My bike!

I love keeping a blog, I think it will serve as a nice record for my kids when they are older and it helps keep some of our family up to date. However, my bike is one of the other things that is keeping me from blogging much lately. Last fall a friend and I tossed around the idea of signing up for a Ialf Ironman race together. One of my biking buddies did the race last year and I was so excited for her. My friend Jen and I signed up together for the race during the first week of January. Within two more weeks we got twenty some people from our triathlon club to sign up and the race sold out! So, I'm excited to announce that I will be competing in the Door County Half Ironman this July!! The race is in one of my favorite spots in Wisconsin and it consists of a 1.2 mile swim in Lake Michigan, 56 mile bike ride, and a half marathon to finish. I will be competing in a few events before the "big race" to get ready. The list includes the South Shore Half Marathon, Elkhart Lake triathlon and possibly the High Cliff triathlon. It should be a great summer!

So far my training has been going very well. Although I must say I'm not a fan of my 4:50am wake up time for my swim days. I have to swim in the morning at least twice per week, I bike with the club 2-3 times per week with amazing rides set up by our club president, and I try to fit a couple decent runs in per week. I'm definitely lacking in the running area so far because I absolutely despise running on treadmill. I love to run outside, even in winter. Everything is so peaceful, I get to see what's going on around town, check out the lake and just breathe.

It sounds silly, but I am so happy when I'm on my bike. Throughout my life some of my best and most memorable moments have come on the seat of a bike. I love taking in the scenery or a sunrise/sunset from the seat of my bike. I fondly remember childhood vacations biking around the state, my first date with my husband Tim (mountain biking on the TNT trail in the bluffs of LaCrosse), and a couple years later being proposed to after a bike ride that led to a picnic overlooking our college town. The kids seem to really like biking too. I hook up a trailer and toddler seat to my mountain bike in the summer and we bike all over town.

The training has been a big commitment but I just love it. It's such a great release or start to my day. I love being in shape and it helps that I have a fabulous group of people to work out with who are willing to meet me at the pool at 5:15am. Our club has grown a ton since I joined two years ago. It's so nice to be with a group of people from all different backgrounds who are all eager to cheer each other on. I'm also very grateful for my hubby who has been so supportive of me and my training.