I love being a mother. I have found so much joy and fulfillment in who I am from my two boys.
But I also enjoy wearing other hats (or swim caps or helmets if you will) at times.
So I jumped on the Packard Family triathlon bandwagon. Everyone else was doing it, why couldn't I? It was the perfect motivator through my pregnancy. I learned to lap swim for the first time. My spin class loved watching my belly grow.
After Rhett was born, I naively found a race, convinced a few friends to sign up with me and we started training. My kids were champs. Rhett was the smallest baby I have seen in a jogging stroller- but he loved it. I fell in love with my bike (thank you Doug!) and my spandex shorts (thank you Mom!) I looked forward to my daily Paola and Kim exercise/play time. The "Night Riders," as we named ourselves, was born.
We nicknamed each other. We doorbell ditched friends. We have told hundreds of hilarious stories about high school, our dating lives, courting our spouses, and our marriage highs and lows. We have cried our way through sad stories and testimonies. Training was so wonderful.
The race was pretty fun too:
Because of a breast pump malfunction, this is literally what I was doing up until 30 seconds before my race started. Luckily we were in the 3rd heat to race and Doug got there just in time. Baby Rhett saved the day!
Here is the 10 second count down...I think we were supposed to be ready by now, but we were all about having fun.
After the horn went off, we were still putting on our goggles and walking into the water. No need to fight the crowds and drown within the first minute! I love my little cheerleader Cal watching me go.
I 'll post more about what happened during the 2 hours, 34 minutes, and 1 second later.
Little Rhett didn't really catch the memo that I was pretty important and busy at the moment.
2 minutes post race:
My triathlon red carpet award speach would be something along the lines of:
"A huge thanks to my producer Doug for really making it possible for me to be here today.
Thanks to Cal and Rhett for being wonderful exrtas in the cast.
Thanks to my brother Zach and sisters Ali and Aimee for being my inspiration.
Thanks to my wonderful trainer, Tricia.
Thanks to my wonderful trainer, Tricia.
And lastly, thank you to the amazing cast members Paola and Kim- together we did it!"
11 comments:
Way to go, Annie! You're SuperMom!
you're amazing. and those pictures of you are awesome. what a champ!
p.s. I know! I can't believe our moms had lunch together. what a world, eh? but i, too, wish it was us! :)
We did it alright. I love the post!!! Gives me chills all over again.
Oh my. So jealous. If we ever live close by each other again in this lifetime, could I be a member of your cool team?! :)
AAaaaawwwww yeah! Go girl! Loved it! Just loved the post!
I am really impressed. Way to go! I think I would like to do something like that but I don't have a clue where to even start.
Congratulations! I am thoroughly impressed... and jealous. I wish I had work out friends (besides Ella of course).
i love those pics annie! i think they needs to be framed. what awesome proof of the super mom you are!
You girls are so cool!
That is awesome Annie! I have been thinking about doing one too, but finding the time to bike and swim will be hard since I work out while kids are sleeping. I will figure it out tho! You are inspiring!
Whoa, Annie. I am SO impressed! The difference between people like you and people like me is that people like me don't even entertain the thought of doing/training for a triathlon when pregnant or nursing-- it's the perfect excuse, after all! Now I don't have any excuses! You are amazing.
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