My hunky hubby

What would persuade me, a self-avowed NON-Morning person, to wake up at 4am on a Saturday, you ask?? The undying love and devotion I feel for my darling husband, of course.

PJ participated in his first-ever Olympic Distance Triathlon on Saturday September 12, complete with his first ocean swim, at Zuma beach in Malibu---and I HAD to come and cheer him on! This was no wimpy Sprint Distance Triathlon like he and I have done a couple of times (with a ~400 meter swim, 10 mile bike, 5K run). No no, this was a whopping 1500 meter OCEAN SWIM, followed by a 25 MILE bike ride, and then a 10 K run! He has been training for this race for months! What a dedicated guy. We had heard that this is the race a bunch of celebrities like to do (Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Lopez, etc.) but that's actually the Sprint distance race on Sunday. D'oh! So far my celebrity sightings in LA are still at ZERO.

We left our home at 4:30 am to arrive at the race start by 5:30 and get his race packet and number, set up in the transition area, etc. by the 6:30 am mandatory meeting. The race started at 7am, and PJ was lucky enough to be in the second wave of competitors, starting the swim at 7:05. He bought a wetsuit for the race, which was a really good choice, as I stood in the water up to my ankles and found it rather chilly. Getting out past those crashing waves looked really challenging to me. I'm so glad there were lifeguards posted every 100 m or so along the swim course.

After I watched the race get underway, I took my beach chair and book and snacks and found a nice quiet spot on the beach and read some Agatha Christie. :-) It was a little chilly with the wind and clouds, (perfect race weather) but a nice relaxing morning at the beach WITHOUT CHILDREN for me. I can only imagine how much "fun" PJ was having out in the ocean while I was chillaxing.

I found a strategic spot to watch the bikers go by, and cheered on PJ as he sped by on his mountain bike. I noticed how much FASTER the road bikes were (something he's been telling me forever) and realized that if he ever wants to compete in his age bracket, he needs to get a nice road bike, for sure. Still, he was kicking booty---even more than this guy ---->

I then found a place with a great view along the run course and kept my eyes out for him coming toward the finish line. He was KILLING it on the run! That's really his forte---running fast, even after being exhausted from swimming and biking. They call him the Energizer Bunny at church basketball because he runs hard for 3 hours. Crazy man.

His goal was to come in under 3 hours 15 minutes, but really under 3 hours if possible. He came in at 2 hours 57 minutes!!! He was so happy at the finish line he was almost crying. He got a finisher's medal, which is the first time he's gotten one in the 3 or 4 years he's been doing triathlons. YAY PEEJ!

His thoughts on the race: the ocean swim was the hardest thing he's ever done. And the ocean is VILE---getting it all in his nose and mouth was not fun. He needs to work on the swim, because it took him like 45 minutes to complete, and entire waves of competitors were passing him. The mountain bike is so much slower than a road bike, but he loves climbing hills. A few other racers shouted to him that he was going really fast on that mountain bike, which made him feel good. The run was amazing. He was speeding past tons of people, and thinks he only got passed by one guy right at the end who had an amazing kick.

After the race we walked around and checked out the various booths offering race gear and energy bars and drinks, etc., stopping at the Men's Health booth where they were offering free post-race stretches by massage therapists or something. He said the strecthing helped a lot. Meanwhile I sipped Chocolate Silk samples, and carried all his gear. See what a dedicated wife I am?!?

We went to the awards ceremony, mostly to gawk at the AMAZING times that other people put up---like the pros who finished the race in UNDER 2 hours!---but always with the small hope that PJ finished high enough in his division to medal. They did all the age categories first, and then the "special" ones like weight class and mountain bike. When the announced the mountain bike division, they started with 5th place, and said 2 hours 35 minutes...something seconds. So we figured, bummer, he didn't place. We stopped really paying attention until we heard, "PJ Woolston 2nd place" followed by his time. HUH? He confusedly went up to the stage and stood on the podium while I cheered loudly. Of course I SUCK and forgot to bring my camera, so no pictures of the triumphant medal ceremony (which is also the reason for all these random internet photos you find throughout this post). Speaking of medals, he got a GORGEOUS, HUGE silver medal which put his finisher's medal to shame.

When he got off the podium, he felt like that IKEA commercial where the lady is running from the store, feeling like she got a steal of a deal, yelling "Start the car!!! Start the car!!!" We checked the stats board just to be sure and realized that the announcer had misspoken---5th place was THREE hours and 35 minutes or whatever. Wahoo! So it WAS for real!??!

He was on cloud nine all weekend long. I was so thrilled for him. All that hard work and training and money invested had really paid off. Of course, I sacrificed tremendously too be there....getting 4 hours of sleep and walking a couple of miles in flip flops (ok, that was really dumb of me because I couldn't find our car and ended up walking almost the whole length of the beach before I finally did locate it, ending up with blisters and really sore feet. I know, I know, I'm such a martyr.) so I actually fell asleep on the way home. D'oh! I couldn't possibly have been more exhausted than he was....but he was probably still riding that post-race high, so it's a good thing he was driving instead of me.

I'm so proud of my man. He is so great at juggling work and family and training and church and now school without ever making me feel neglected or on the "back burner." He's so incredibly supportive of me and my goals, be they fitness or school or whatever. I think he must be Clark Kent. How lucky am I that he chose to spend his life with me??!!!? I love you, babe.