Details, Details.

It's been a week since I left for Washington to complete my first Olympic triathlon. I can't believe it is already over. I spend the last four months training for it and September 14th has come and gone.

It was such a wonderful experience. The whole weekend in DC. Kyle got to be there the whole time. My dad came on Saturday to watch the race. And Jenny surprised me by flying in to DC to watch the triathlon. I totally owe her big time now.

After a long afternoon at the course that included
a practice swim, I came back to the hotel to clean up and Jenny showed up!
Dad, Kyle and Jenny walked around DC and got to see some sites.
I never actually saw much while I was there.

Saturday night Team in Training held a huge pasta party for the 715 of us from around the country that were competing in the triathlon the next day. It was a a great night. We all wore Team Holmes t-shirts, ate pasta, and heard inspiring stories that definitely served to motivate us. We raised 3 million dollars for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!!! Go Team!

The 12 people on Team Holmes raised $68,885 for the LLS!!! Yea Team Holmes! Rebecca was one of the top fundraisers in the whole country! The top 3 fundraisers got new bikes. Rebecca was number 4! Actually, that was really unfortunate for me because Rebecca said she would have given that bike to me! (She just bought a new one.) Oh well!

I raised close to $7000! Thanks to so many people who supported me on this journey! Your money will do great things for families fighting blood cancer! Thank you so much!


One of the sweetest things about the whole experience has been getting to know and spend time with Rebecca Holmes. Our moms have been friends since junior high school. My mom was in her wedding!! We have known each other our whole lives but never have had the opportunity to spend time together to really get to know each other. She is fun, inspiring, devoted to her precious family, competitive :) and I count it a privilege to have completed this together! Thanks Rebecca.

When we got home from the Pasta party, we decorated our jersey's with pictures of sweet Gage. It was an honor to race for him. And fun to talk about him to other racers who saw his cute picture and asked about him. We also put our names on our jersey so people could cheer for us by name--that was really cool!

Rebecca took a few minutes to talk to all of us on Saturday night. She reminded us that this weekend is really bittersweet for her (and all of us). The whole reason we trained for four months, traveled to DC, made these great friends, is all because her 5 year old son has cancer.

The reason I went on the LLS website back in May was to look for some sort of run or event I could do to raise money or just do something to help with leukemia--all because of the Holmes. A week after seeing the Nation's triathlon on the website and thinking "there ain't NO WAY I could ever do that thing," I saw Rebecca at the gym and she told me she was doing it and that I could do it. 4 days later I was signed up.

Our decorating party. We also painted our nails purple and green!
Bo loved it when I got home.

Sunday Morning. Race Day. September 14.

I got up at 4:20 am that morning to get ready and eat a little bit. We took shuttles at 5:00 am to the race site. Got our race number put all over us and started getting our transition area ready. Then stood in line for the potty for about 30 minutes! But totally necessary.

I was one of the ones in the orange swim cap. That's how they separate us. As most of you know, I was pretty nervous about the swim. It was really ok! I had some goggle problems (me and Michael Phelps!) and I had to stop and tread water while I fixed them. I finished the swim in under 40 minutes--that was my goal!!!




We run out of the water and all the way to transition. I think I am just wiping something from my face--not crying--not that there's anything wrong with that! I know Dad and Kyle were happy to see me out of the water!
I quickly changed into my biking gear and tried to remember to hydrate! It was incredibly hot and humid that day. I saw Dad, Jenny and Kyle a couple of times! The bike route was fun and challenging. I think the swim took more out of me than I had anticipated. I didn't set my bike computer so I never knew how far I had to go. I asked people along the way.



On the final leg of the race. I developed a very painful side stitch during the very beginning of the run. I instantly realized that this run wasn't going to go how I had planned. But I always wanted to be very aware of what I was doing and why. So it was discouraging and painful but didn't put a damper on the race! I ran and walked when i needed to. I took advantage of the aid stations with water and powerade and ice!!! I couldn't wait for the finish line. I did wish I had someone to run with a lot of the time! You know I always want a buddy!

I finished! That is a medal around my neck! That is the capital behind us.
I definitely could not have done this without Kyle.
He was always so supportive and encouraging. Thanks babe.One of the greatest things that happened on Sunday, was what you see below. One of team members, Marge (age 59) was about to finish the race. She is an amazing woman and sort of our team mascot. She completed an Olympic triathlon! We all ran/walked the last several hundred yards with her. This was our Team! Way to go Marge!

The race was challenging, fun, and inspirational. I loved it. I loved doing it with my team and having my fan club there. I love that my sweet brother blogged about it and that many of you knew exactly what was going on during every minute of the race! And i loved that it was over! But sad too.


here are some more pics. . .



This is kyle eating at 5 guys. What you need to take note of is the older guy in the background, it is Jeremiah Wright. Obama's controversial pastor! My dad instantly recognized him and took several pictures. Crazy thing is that we saw him later that night too!



Tori and Nathan Schubert! So fun to do this with Tori. We have known each other a long time! I was her young life leader when she was in 8th grade! She did an awesome job!

Rebecca and Ashly Cothern. Cute pic from after the race.


Kate Meyer and her husband Dan. Kate is precious and I never knew her until the triathlon even though they go to watermark.

That's all folks. The longest blog entry ever!