Every triathlete has a story, so I will add this one to the pile and hope that someone is inspired by mine. I am many things, but triathlon has helped me define myself on my own terms.
I am a triathlete.
My husband is an amazing man and he is the love of my life. My hub has a job that little kids dream about doing and many an adult would like to have. To me, he's the guy that I nag to take the trash out and empty the dishwasher. But when he dons his uniform, he is a test pilot. We have been together for over 12 years now, and married for nine years this month. I have seen how hard he works to achieve his success and I have pinned four well earned ranks onto his shoulders. His professionalism and work ethic have inspired and taught me many things over the past decade. I love sharing my life with him.
Before my husband became a test pilot, he flew the F-15E Strike Eagle. Its an amazing jet and I have felt the enormous pride of watching him land a jet that he flew back from a four month deployment to Afghanistan. Mine is a wonderful life, but it is a life focused on the active duty service member. Over the past nine years I have moved five times, brought two children
into the world, and quit two (paying) jobs. I have pulled the family load alone during multiple TDYs (business trips), two deployments, and sixty plus hour work weeks. I have had some amazing experiences and met many wonderful people. But sometimes, people looked right through me. Like Mr. Cellophane in Chicago, you may never know I'm there.
I was full of pride and love for my husband, but I wanted to have a life and meaning outside of my home. In late 2009, we moved our three year old, our four month old, two cars, several thousand pounds of household goods, and our black lab from the United Kingdom to California so that my hub could begin Test Pilot School. I had completed about a half dozen sprint triathlons over the previous five years, but I wanted to lose the baby weight. So, I told my husband, some friends, and my family that I was going to complete a half Ironman. In 2010, I completed 5 sprint tris, 2 Olympic tris, and 2 half marathons while we lived north of LA. We could drive down early in the morning, compete, and drive home. Los Angeles is a fantastic place for a triathlete.
In January of 2011, we moved to the panhandle of Florida. Lucky us! We bought a house in an area that is full of runners, cyclists, and swimmers. I raced another Olympic distance tri and a couple of sprint tris to keep my fitness going and I began to research 70.3s in the area. I also joined the local cycling club so that I could get some miles on the road and learn a thing or two about cycling from the experts. There wasn't a local triathlon club, even though the areas an hour east and west had very vibrant clubs. I found a gal who was training for the Gulf Coast Tri and Ironman Florida. I also signed up for the New Orleans 70.3 Ironman on April 22, 2012.
New Orleans is a place that holds a lot of meaning for me. My mother grew up there and I have a ton of family that lives there now. My husband and I met there on New Year's Eve of 1999 (it makes the mental math VERY easy). He proposed to me in front of the St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson's Square, and then a year later we married in a little chapel and had a reception at the Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter. I LOVE New Orleans. Visualizing a finish line close to where my hub asked me to say "I do" seemed like a great way to keep me motivated for that little run at the end of the bike ride.
So, here I was, riding 50 to 60 miles regularly, but I still wanted others to swim with. I knew Ann and trained with her (she's an amazing athlete and a great lady). Then one day, I met Lynn. The base pool has lovely 50 meter lanes and there is a great local spot for bike riding with relatively little traffic over an almost 40 mile stretch of road. I saw her swimming and then later that morning unloading her bike at the cycling spot. She and I rode together and we became fast friends. I mentioned that I'd had the idea to organize a triathlon club, and Lynn was all for it. We also found the support of the local tri store, Dragon Sports. They are a wealth of knowledge and connections and they were able to steer us towards a group that swam in the ocean every weekend. Score! So, Lynn helped me organize, Ann designed a great logo, and I registered the club with USAT. The Emerald Coast Triathlon Club officially began in August of 2011.
During a beach run, I had another great idea...wouldn't it be fun to organize a 5k? I love races and I thought I'd like to be on the organizing end instead of the racing end. The trouble is that I am a triathlete, not a runner. I enjoy a good foot race, but I always finish thinking, "Was that all?" There are also a TON of 5ks in the area. The panhandle is full of active people, so the race calendar is pretty saturated. Instead of a 5k, I wanted to put together a duathlon. The swim is a very complicated leg to organize, and a duathlon is still a multisport event. We could also get on the calendar in February and market as an early season event. Bruce, the owner of the local tri store is an instructor at the Naval Explosive Ordnance Division School. Those are the guys that take apart IEDs and other bombs. It is very dangerous, yet very important work. The EOD Memorial is not far from where I live, which is where I wanted to put on the race. Bruce thought that we may be able to get permission to make the memorial the turn around point on the bike course.
The Bluewater Bay Duathlon at LJ Schooner's celebrated our inagural year with amazing success. We were able to donate $850 to the Wounded EOD Warrior Foundation and $850 to the EOD Memorial Foundation, as well as pay for some of the tri club's start up costs. We also had folks come in from as far away as Maryland. Not bad for a first year event! We have some mistakes to correct for next year, but the 2013 race is on the calendar! I loved every minute of organizing the du and I plan to develop my skills as a race director. Currently, my five year old would like me to organize a kids triathlon. He wanted to be the race director until he realized that he could not both direct the race and run the race.
I now find myself the President of a tri club that has 80 members at the start of the 2012 season. I have made some amazing friends, and I like to think that I have influenced more than one person to try the tri lifestyle. The baby weight is long gone and I have discovered a passion for directing events.
Because of strong winds, the New Orleans 70.3 was turned into a 2 mile run, 52 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. My bike average was 18.3 and I ran a 2:10 half marathon after the bike, completing the 67.1 miles in 5 hours and 22 minutes. I am damn proud of my accomplishments.
To top it all off, my friends nominated me as the USA Triathlon Member of the Month. I can now claim 15 minutes of internet fame and the title of co-member of the month for March 2012. It means the world to me that my friends nominated me, USAT picked my story, and then people took the time to vote for me. The voting didn't end on the 31st as it was supposed to, so they awarded the other guy Member of the Month status too. He had a cool story, so I was very happy to share the accolade. AND, I won a cool jacket.
I plan to race another 70.3 and eventually a full Ironman. We are also going to focus more on fundraising for this year's du, as well as correct the mistakes that I made last year.
This has been an amazing journey and people no longer look through me. I am a triathlete, a wife, a mother, a friend, a sister, and a daughter. You can be a triathlete too.
