I may have found it...

Now I may be jumping the gun a little but I think I may have found something I really love to do... possibly a passion!  A few months ago I decided to enter into my first triathlon and since then have been training for it.  My running is coming along very well and my swimming has always been my strong point but I hadn't ridden outside in a very long time.  I take spin class about 2-3 times a week but it is not the same as riding outside.  After my first bike ride on Wednesday, I felt good but to be honest, a little discouraged.  I only did 5 miles and I felt like that took me forever.  Granted, I rode on a busy street with tons of stoplights that I had to stop at but still, I felt I should have gotten more mileage in the time I rode.  

So Thursday at cardio bag class, my new friend Jackie, knowing I was training for the tri, asked me if I wanted to go riding with her.  Of course I said yes and was super excited to ride with someone way more experienced than myself.  Having already done 4 triathlons, I knew Jackie would really be able to push me like I needed to be pushed.  And push me she did!  Before leaving cardio bag class, she told me to meet her at her house at 7:45AM on Saturday (EEK!) and that we would ride about 12 miles and then run 2-3 miles (DOUBLE EEK!!!) 12 MILES?!  I had only done 5!  And then a run on top of it??? I was definitely worried.  I even thought about canceling on her, but my great friends Cassie,  Mo and Lish and my incredibly supportive fiance all said they knew I could do it and their faith in my abilities kinda rubbed off on me.  

So Saturday morning, with butterflies in my tummy I woke up and headed out to meet Jackie.  We got on the road by about 8 and headed up 2 huge hills!  I had to stop twice, once because my gear was so hard that I couldn't even pedal and felt like I was gonna fall over and another time because my thighs were just on fire (cardio bag class 2 days before was probably not the best idea but hindsight I guess...) Anyways, we road up to the Santa Rosa Plateau which was just beautiful!  It was a little cloudy and cool but great biking weather.  

When we got to the top we stopped at a trail head, locked up our bikes and ran about 1-2 miles.  My legs actually felt great and the run was fairly easy!  After our run, we got back on our bikes and headed back down the hill and back to Jackie's.  The whole trip took us 2 hours.  I felt so accomplished, even thought I know I probably held Jackie back a little, I was so grateful for her and her pushing me.  II would never have ridden that far on my own. 

The first thing I did when I got back home was enter my workout onto dailymile.com (think of it as Facebook for your workouts).  It's linked up with street maps so you can track your runs/rides and see exactly how many miles you have done.  To my surprise, our ride today was 17.19 miles!!! I was shocked!!! If I can do 17 miles up 2 huge hills, my tri (which is also a 17 mile bike ride) should be great! I am so motivated now and I can't wait to get out there and ride again.  The best part was, even though I was tired and sweaty and a little scared actually, I had a blast!  I loved mixing up the ride with the run and I have never had so much fun working out before!  I think this triathlon thing could be something that I am really passionate about!  I even mapped out a new riding course near my house (with minimal hills lol) and I plan on getting on the road on Monday.  Its only 8 miles but I figure I could mix in short rides during the week and do one long ride on Saturday.  I'm thinking about conquering Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet which is a 23 mile loop with little to no hills.  

Is someone a little cocky? I think so =)