December already!?!?!

So last time we talked, we were just a week away from the Tri..and now its been over and done with for 3 months!! craziness! it was such a huge thing for all of us and we all made it thru despite some shitty weather!! we got there a week ahead of time to get used to the altitude..had gorgeous weather every day.the 1st day we arrived we drove the course, and then went to the reservior to check it out...unfortunetly we didnt get to swim....got to ride the bike course on one day..it was a lot of fun...felt like riding thru really thick air at 1st, but then got better as we got used to it...the rollers were a lot of fun, and the scenery was beautiful (the haystack mtn aka teat was always to our right!). we also took a day to run the course...it was pretty flat and easy...but a little hard with the altitude...it was sooo pretty to look at the water and see the clouds reflected in it...poor Donny struggled a lot with his knee though...and he ended up going to the urgent care to get a cortisone shot so that he could make it thru! We got to go on a hike and went to REI in Denver and had a great week. Carrie and Kim got there Friday and we drove to pick them up at the airport then went to one of my favorite pizza places for our pre-race dinner Bo Jeau's.
We woke up to a cold and rainy day the day of the race and worried it wouldn't clear. We had time for a nice breakfast and then did a little shopping for some arm/leg warmers just in case.
We grabbed a quick lunch and then headed to the Resevoir to get our stuff set up and see what was up. When we got there it was raining and cold and there really was no place to warm up..it was also lightning and thundering..which does not make for good swimming conditions.
the race was supposed to start at 330...and right up until the last minute they were holding out to see if it would quit lightning and we could swim...but they held out as long as they could..to no avail...they announced the swim was off and we would be able to run/bike/run instead of swim bike run...we were all pretty disappointed but decided we came all this way and it was ON!~
so the new race was 2 mile run/23 mile bike/4 mile run. Wasnt really looking forward to it, since running is what makes me and donny hurt the most, but we didnt come all this way to just give up...so be it!!
The 1st run went pretty well... got to the bike and forgot to grab my glasses so had all kinds of crap flying up in my face the entire ride..wasnt quite as pleasant as the 1st time we rode the course. did talk to one lady for a while about our causes and that made the time go quickly. I was able to ride with Susie a lot of the time too so that helped a lot! By the time we got back to the transition area though I was so cold i had to have people help me get my helmet off and tie my shoes becuz i couldnt move my fingers! took off for the final 4 miles and man did it hurt like hell! everything seemed to hurt...but somehow i managed to push on..i just reminded myself why i was there, about the year of work i had put into this and i kept pressing on!! When I got to the last hill,it was thank God a downhill, i remember passing a girl with dreads, and i remember seeing Rebecca's whole family on the corner and I remember thinking.."stay strong whatever it takes" and I was able to push it in to the finish line. what a feeling of accomplishment I had coming across that line...when I got there i wanted to laugh, cry, jump up and down kiss Donny and hug everyone who came with to support us! It was an amazing feeling! Then when Becky came across the line in tears, I knew exactly why were were all there doing this...the sacrifices we had all made, the pain we all felt, and the extreme happiness that we did it!!!
Now, I think i'm addicted to these triathlons! Crazy as that seems, even though i've been struggling with this injury I feel like I want to keep going! I finished another indoor tri in Nov and will compete in another one in Dec...Then we'll see how things go in the upcoming year...I would really like to do the Omaha tri. its the 1st one here...but Its sooo pricey! so i guess we will see what happens!!
Now we're getting ready for the holidays! we jsut finished Thanksgiving last week...the Cooks and the Helmbergers joined us for dinner...we attempted our 1st turkey! it was delicious! Thanks to the Cooks for their help!! Tonite i'm hosting a tastefully simple party in hopes to get some snacks for the upcoming New Year's bash!!
Can't believe how fast this year has gone and how much we've done! Looking forward to 2010...