Whew! I'm Exhausted!

OK, now, those of you who have read this blog for a while know that I don't like to brag on myself. I mean, sure, it's common knowledge that I'm a complete health nut, and that I exercise all the time, and I'm so fit and buff and in great shape, and have a totally killer body, blah blah blah, but I try not to be too vocal about it. Just seems sort of rude and show-off-y, if you know what I mean. It's hard enough being the perfect specimen that I am ... no need to rub people's noses in it.

But, I'm so thrilled about what happened this weekend that I just can't keep from sharing it with all of you. I have no doubt you'll be just as thrilled for me, and happy to see the photos.

Although I work out -- LIKE A DOG -- all the time (how else do you think I keep this figure???) I've never really pushed myself like I did yesterday. Pushed myself to my physical and mental limits ... and if I say so myself, proved what an AWESOME example of true physical fitness I am.

I competed in my very first -- but not my last, rest assured -- triathlon this weekend --- and I kicked butt! First place for my age group -- woohoo!!!

Here's proof:


Here I am waiting in line for the first portion of the triathlon, the 100 yard freestyle swim. I'll admit, I was feeling a little nervous since I'd never done anything like this before, but I just kept telling myself how awesome I am and that everything would be ok:




And this is me in the water, completing the third lane. Sure, swimming might not be my forte, but since they didn't have to throw me any floaties, I felt pretty good about it:




After the swim portion of the event, we had to run outside and head to our bikes, for the 3-mile bike ride. Please pay no attention to the fact I am running topless --- there is less wind resistance that way and I can go faster:




Safety being the utmost concern, of course, I took the time to put on my bike helmet before taking off. All the race participants took off from the swim start in 15-second intervals, so at this point we were still pretty evenly spaced:




I was a little nervous when I saw some of the kids wearing hundred-dollar aerodynamic helmets, riding atop fifteen-hundred dollar bikes (so the adult triathlon participant standing next to her said to my Aunt Kristie. Er, I mean, said to ME) This was the part of the race that was hardest for the bystanders, because the 3-mile course was all completed away from the complex, so they had no idea if I would be in last place, or first place, or anywhere in between, until I showed up:




Well, the kids with the fancy-schmancy bikes *did* have a bit of an advantage, and I had maybe fallen a bit behind in the bike race. Or maybe not. It's difficult to tell, with the staggered starts like that. But here is where I got off my bike and started the one-mile run. You can see my mom ...um, I mean, my SISTER .... pointing direction and helping me find the race course. (Somebody parked his white truck right at the entrance to the foot path, so all the contestants were sort of confused about where the run should begin):




Here, though, is where I shone. Shone like the star I am. I might be chubby, but I can run like a gazelle, and I made up ALL the time in the run, passing kids left and right. Again, you don't really know where you are finishing because the kid who finishes in front of you could have started out way in front of you, or way behind you. Likewise for the kids who finish behind you. Maybe they started WAY behind you and made up lots of time. Although I think that would be difficult, because let me repeat -- I am a running ROCK STAR!!!:




Whew! I gotta admit, even someone in as fine of physical condition as ME is winded at the end! 100 yard swim, 3 mile bike ride, and 1 mile run --- my time was 22 minutes. Now we just had to stand around, wait for the other kids to finish, and see how my overall time compared to everyone else's:




I DID IT!!!! I TOTALLY ROCK!!!! I WON FIRST PLACE!!!!!!



Wait, what do you mean you guys aren't falling for any of this? What's not believable? The part about how fit I am? Or how fast I am? Or what an awesome swimmer and bicycler I am???

OK --- fine. I'll confess.

It was my nephew Dalton.

*HE* totally rocks --- *HE* is the awesome athlete --- *HE* is the one who won his first ever triathlon yesterday:



But you know what? I am a proud Aunt, and I ran around that course taking pictures and yelling encouragement like a crazy person. It was really hot and sunny and I TOTALLY starting sweating a little bit, and I think I deserve a medal for that, too.