bodyglide | Jen Bendewish │Running Down a Dream

THANK YOU! 10 Things This Tri-Momma is Grateful For

Thanks to SITS Girls for challenging me to share 10 Things I am thankful for. I am so grateful for each and everyday I have on this planet and all the things that cross my path. For today, I am going to share what I thankful for as it pertains to triathlon… hopefully you will find some humor in a few of them.

10 Triathlon Thank You Moments!

THANK YOU to Fitness magazine for writing an article and providing a training plan for a sprint triathlon. Your colorful pictures, cute gear, and realistic training plan for all women has led me down a road in which my husband never hears me complain about the cost of his golf rounds anymore.
THANK YOU for putting the dreadful swim first and the run last. As a runner, I spend the race waiting to get to the run.
THANK YOU triathlon for the cute and stylish racing gear….. yeah, right. No matter how you design it, trisuits have to be just about the most unflattering outfit in my closet.
THANK YOU for the police escort. I’ve been first in my age group in a race and last in a race. At least when you are last, the motorcycle cop is there to talk to you for the rest of the bike section.
THANK YOU for energy gels and chlorine in pools which have made my dentist more money.
THANK YOU to all the women doing triathlons! You keep me inspired!
THANK YOU for Bodyglide! (No further details needed).
THANK YOU to my two little girls, who motivate me and inspire me to be better everyday.
THANK YOU to all the trimomma’s out there and to a good friend of mine that I get to go on long rides with, which gives us time to talk about mommyhood, training, life, and so much more!
THANK YOU to my husband who does not do triathlons. I could not imagine what two of us in a house would be like.

10 Triathon Tidbits This Mother Has Learned in Two Years of Triathlon

In May 2012, I was reading through a copy of one of my favorite magazines, Women’s Running. At that time, I had my leg propped up on my desk drawer, my slacks rolled up and ice on my shin. Yes, I was battling through another shin splint. I stumbled across an article and training plan to do your first sprint triathlon in eight weeks. Needless to say, I was sucked into the article and came home that day and told my husband I had a great idea….. I was going to do a triathlon. I’d love to tell you his response or his facial expression, but I honestly didn’t pay attention long enough to see his response… I was already off writing a list of stuff I needed and found a calendar to start mapping out my training plan.

In August of 2012, I did my first triathlon. This month marks two years of my love for the sport. Over the past two years, I have learned a few things…

1. Race Day… To wear a sports bra under a tri top or not?

Before my first race, this question had me stumped for months. When I decided to do my first triathlon, I knew no one who enjoyed the sport and therefore no one to direct this question to. So, I decided to look up race photos of the race I was doing from the year before and check out all the pictures of the ladies who had raced. After searching photos of mid distance finishers and back of the pack finishers, I noticed lots of ladies raced with a sports bra under their tri top. I decided to do my first triathlon with my favorite running bra under my tri top and have raced every race this way. I like compression with NO bounce.

2. Race Day… Swim will not go as planned.

I grew up in Southern California in a surfing family. I have swam in shore break in Hawaii and this stupid confidence carried over into my first lake swim in my first triathlon. No matter how many laps you swim in a pool, and no matter how many years you jumped and played in the waves, none of that prepared me for a grimy, warm water, lake swim. During my first race, I panicked after the first buoy, panicked more as I saw the other swimmers getting further away, and panicked even more when the people were cheering from the dock at the end of the swim. Clearly they were yelling at me to hurry up because they had seen an alligator and were not just merely clapping and cheering. It took five more races before I learned to swim calmly and to stop worrying that I would be last out of the water. Being last means I still made it out of the water. Being last doesn’t mean I can’t be happy. Continue reading →