A friend talked me into doing a team triathlon, me on the bike, her running, my daughter swimming. I've never done any kind of race before. I'm strictly a commuter with a few recreational rides and one memorable tour. My bike is a workhorse of a commuter. I rode her road bike for this (with my brooks saddle).

3/4 mile swim, 18 mile bike, 5 mile run. Our goal was, we thought, achievable: to complete at least 2 of the categories!

Last night my daughter had a bit of a crisis (girl trouble) and there was a real possibility she wouldn't swim at all. But she really wanted to do it, she was sobbing for fear she'd miss it! We got her problem sort of solved (since it was a lake not a pool...). None of us slept well.

Up very early, she had to go down to the beach by herself, that was rough. They had her start with the youths instead of the teams, which was a relief. There were only 6 in her heat. She panicked a little at first, we'd tried to practice in open water but hadn't gotten as much done, and she hadn't taken it seriously (forgot her goggles, for example). Then she remembered her breathing, calmed down, passed 7 people, and was surprised at how fast the end came. She finished in 33 minutes.

She came up to the team box to slap my hand and I tried to hug her but she yelled "Go mom! Get on the bike!" I had been so keyed up with anxiety for her, that I got on the bike and it took off like a jet. The course started with a steep hill. The blue shirts at the top cheered me and on yelled "You're at the top of the hill!" and I thought "That was it? That was the dreaded hill I've been hearing so much about?"

This little bike is so light and skinny tires, the hill was NOTHING. Remember I drive a commuter with hybrid tires and a heavy basket full of all the junk I need to get through my day. The computer on my bike doesn't do cadence, and I've always wondered what my cadence is, I always thought it was slow. I was so wired still, from all that anxiety earlier, that my cadence was over 100! "I should shift up and slow the cadence down," I thought. "I don't know if I should be going so fast right out of the gate, I should pace myself."

But I didn't want to, and slowing my cadence felt wrong. So I decided to just go with it. After the turn around, the wind picked up a little, and my cadence dropped a little, maybe 96. I let it go because that was still pretty fast.

On my commuter I average around 10 mph. I hoped for 14 mph on this road bike. The final average today was 16.3 mph. I finished in 69 min. Very acceptable!

I passed another 10 people. I stumbled when I got off the bike, tried to jog to rack it and tag our runner, but I was so wobbly it wasn't much of a jog. She estimated 45-50 min for her 5 miles, since she didn't get in any training lately that she intended to. (Notice the theme of unprepared...) But she finished in 42 min, less than her estimate.

Not only did we achieve our goal, we completed all 3 categories with respectable times!

I'm totally hooked. This ride was nothing like the recreational rides I've done. Those are so laid back and relaxed. I felt driven. I hope we can find a way to fit a road bike in the budget some time this next year!