Posted By: Kellie Johnson
June 10, 2008 - 3:49 PM
It's official - I AM A TRIATHLETE!!
Thanks to Michael Bland, my Gold's tri coach. Thanks to all the guys and gals with whom I trained. Thanks to Valerie, the owner of the Curves where I also work out who planted the seed, worked out with me, never gave up and actually ran the race with me. Many many thanks to my fabulous husband who supported me, did laundry, had kid duty, made lots of sacrifices for my training and threw me one hell of a party after the race. Thanks to my best friend Brook who flew in from Virginia for the race, got up at 4am (and yelled at me to get up) to make it to the "super secret parking" before the race, and helped immensely with the party prep. Thanks to all my friends and family who have provided much encouragement and kudos.
I finished the Austin Danskin Triathlon Sunday, June 10 in the sort of respectable time of 2:05:26. My goal for my first one probably should have been to just finish, but I was hoping to finish in under 2 hours. The wind and heat were pretty intense, and the swim was MUCH harder than I anticipated. I'm thrilled to have finished and ready for the next one. I'm officially hooked. Now I have a baseline and my next goal can be to just beat my previous time.
I still have about 40 pounds to lose. I've taken a little break from the eating regimine of late - using all the triathlon training as an excuse to eat whatever, whenever. The good news is that I haven't really gained any weight. The training has kept my weight in check despite what I've eaten, but I ate enough that I didn't really lose anymore despite all the training. SO.....I'm back on the wagon this week. Back to the same hard core training (I have another tri in 2 weeks). Back to the eating plan. I'm going to get the last 40 off instead of just talking about it.
YEA ME!!! :-)
First Duathlon!
Posted By: Kellie Johnson
May 04, 2008 - 7:35 PM
I competed in my first duathlon today! Smithville is a quaint little town southeast of Austin. The Smithville Chamber of Commerce and Team ATS (www.teamats.com) sponsored a duathlon there today. 2.75 mile run; 12 mile bike; 2.75 mile run. I finished in 1:48. That might seem like a snail's pace if you're a seasoned multi-sport athlete, but considering I couldn't even think about doing anything like this a year ago, I'm quite pleased. Thanks to my Gold's triathlon training team for all the cheers and support! 2 of our our group placed first in their age group and 1 placed second. We all did great.
Winners Announced
Posted By: Kellie Johnson
April 07, 2008 - 1:27 PM
Given the posts I've seen, all 3 Finalists seem to have been notified. The final results are:
1st Prize: Kellie Johnson
2nd Prize: Greg Sweitzer
3rd Prize: Lorraine Frankfurt
When I got the call from the 3rd-party "sweepstakes" company yesterday, I was shocked. My husband and son are very excited about our upcoming family vacation to Hawaii. I'm going to keep hitting the gym hard so I'll look great in a swimsuit when we go.
For those of you who took this personally and posted ugly things to various blogs & walls: the rules stipulated that "fake" votes would be eliminated & that the popular vote was 40% of the competition. The other 60% was the votes of a "panel of judges." I actually read the rules before I created my profile, so I knew the votes, fake or not, were only part of the equation.
So, all 3 of us are winners, and the ugliness that transpired was really unnecessary. A few people posted some really ugly, hurtful things. They did that because they made assumptions that they had no way to verify and because they were ignorant of the rules. Apparently, clicking on the "Terms and Conditions" link at the bottom of every Community-related page is more trouble than claiming to be a Christian while being nasty to someone you don't really know.
My understanding is that they will update the Community home page with the final results after all the finalists have accepted the prizes and returned the required legal paperwork.
I'm thrilled to have "won," and I'm thrilled to have been involved in a friendly challenge with 2 other fine competitors. Most of all, I'm thrilled to have changed (and extended) my life forever.
Thanks to everyone who voted for me. I know friends, family, co-workers, colleagues, acquaintances and strangers took the time to create a profile, vote & spread the word for others to do the same. Thanks also to my local Gold's Gym for passing out flyers.
Congratulations to Greg & Lorraine and all the other Community members who are working daily to change, improve & extend their lives.
-Kel
