Swim, Bike, Run

Throughout my life I haven't been the most athletic person other than skiing but I love to exercise (getting to the gym is the hardest part though once you are past that it is a great feeling!) hence why my major is exercise science (also for other reason too such as my fascination with the human body).  Anyways Maggie told me, back in the summer, about this sprint triathlon in St. George, UT that she learned about at the biggest loser ranch (my sister and mom went there for spring break... DEF not my mom's idea haha!)  So this past weekend (Nov. 12 - 14) Maggie, Greg, and I drove down to St. George and thanks to Jared's family we had a place to stay.  The house was amazing and perfectly labeled (Jared- I think your mom would pick you over your label-maker :) The bed was like a cloud! so Maggie and I slept great and went to bed really really early the night before the race (like 9:30 pm early!)


Race day was really cold that morning but once you got into the swimming area it was warmer but running from the transition area to the pool was FREEZING!  We thought we got there early also but we were one of the last people to go so we waited for an hour and half to even get into the pool and start!  Once I got close to the start line I got really nervous but getting into the pool and starting was a great feeling!

After the swim was done, which was harder than I thought but I did pretty well I think since I did swim team for about an hour then quit haha.  Getting out of the water wasn't that bad and since it was later in the day going to the transition area wasn't as cold as the morning.  And I must say wearing the swim cap kept my hair dry for the bike ride which was a little windy, so even though I looked like a chemo patient it was beneficial in the end.

Oh the bike... probably the worst part of the whole tri.  First of all I was dumb and didn't train on many hills so when I realized that I had multiple hills I just about died!  I have never breathed so hard in my life!  Maggie seemed to be doing ok so I said she could go ahead while I tried to finish.  By the end of the bike I realized that my tires didn't look like they were full of air.  I had pushed on them to see if they were full and they seemed full but I guess the cold weather and me sitting on the bike changes that so flat tires didn't help either.

When I finally finished the bike and got off my legs were like jello and it was hard to run to the transition station.  I should have practice the transitions more but oh well... next time!  So I thought the run was going to be hard because since I waved Maggie to go ahead I though she would have started the run but being the nice sister she is she waited for me :)  So I was relieved to have someone to run with. The run was not bad at all we did our best and keep each other entertained so the run went by pretty fast.  Then we came up the the finish line together which was a great feeling that we had finally finished!  I am so happy that I did this it was a great accomplishment especially for someone like me.

I thank my sister for pushing me to do this and helping me out through the training process.  I also thank my grandparents for flying out to see Maggie and me race and for Greg to tag along on the drive and to come support me as well.

After the race we got a huge lunch of Cafe Rio (YUM) probably not the most healthy thing to eat after but I was craving a big meal!  We then headed to the St. George Temple because Tootsie wanted to see it since we had time to spare.  It is a different looking temple than the ones I am use to so it was interesting to see it.  Then we went back to Jared's house to relax and hang out with everyone.  Then the next morning we slept in and headed back to Provo.

MORE PICTURES OF THE TURKEY TRI

East Coast Girl Goes West Coast

Since I have never been to the California, Greg and I decided to visit his hometown near Sacramento two weekends ago (Nov 4th to 7th).  It is about a 10 hour drive and we left provo around 5:30pm and didn't get  there until about 2:30am.  So in the spirit of road trips I feel asleep as always, there is just something about cars and planes that just rock me right to sleep!  But, Greg woke me up towards the end because he was getting bored haha :)

Day 1
That morning we woke up and went to the gym where the guy was a jerk about letting me in because I didn't belong to that particular 24 Hour Fitness but eventually with Greg's persuasion skills we got in.  After a good workout we went to Chipotle with his Mom, kind of counter productive but hey I like both so it is ok in my book!  Chipotle was wonderful as always.  After we were full of yummy food Greg and I drove around and he showed me where he went to school, seminary building (which was SO FAR I am glad my ward rented a room at Whitman),  and the Temple where his dad works.  It is a very pretty temple as most of them are and Tootsie would have loved the flowers but... I will still always love the DC Temple the best :) Of course there was an outlet mall right near the temple so we HAD to stop and get some clothes :) I think Greg got a little annoyed with how long we were in Banana Republic...oops! but they didn't have a JCrew! ahhh!  Well that was a long day so we went home and relaxed a little and talked with his parents and then he took me out to BJ's Restaurant which I went to in TX but only got the Pazookie, this time I got a really yummy pizza AND a Pazzokie :) (Pazzokie = big cookie topped with Ice cream = very yummy!)

There were Turkeys running around the Temple grounds!

Day 2

We met up with his older brother (Brian) and his wife (Amy) for a picnic lunch at this really pretty park.  The sandwiches we had were huge and sooo good!  When we were done we tossed the football around which was fun but Greg's family is pretty athletic and Amy isn't the greatest at throwing things but she is a good sport about participating and confident in herself even if she was was giving everyone a good laugh :) I hopefully was up to par with their standards! haha oh well if not...

Then we went home and his mom made a delicious meal of stake and potatoes... in my book this is a perfect meal :) For dessert we went to this little store that had amazing cake.  Greg and I got the pumpkin with cream cheese frosting... YUMM! Then movie night! we watched The Pursuit of Happiness... one of my favorite movies.

The next day we went to church for sacrament meeting and then headed back to good ol' provo... we really didn't want to leave even if it was raining that day.  The other days were beautiful and warm... such a good break from cold utah!

FOR MORE PICTURES OF SACRAMENTO