Me, Mom, and Daddy: GYGO! Challenge 2007

You guys remember the Ramones? I sang 'We're a Happy Family' while I was riding this morning. That song then morphed to 'Blitzkrieg Bop', which changed into 'I Wanna be Sedated' and then I was off thinking about Jared Leto and My So Called Life. The 90's were great. (Yes, I know the Ramones aren't from the 90's, but that's when I listened to them, so in my pea-brain, that's when they'll always exist.)

Now, onto the real business. The GYGO! Challenge!

My parents and I did our triathlon over the past 24 hours. We swam yesterday because the health club is closed today...but we still wanted to do something together on New Year's Day. So, the deal was that we had to finish within 24 hours of when we started...so we still technically did it in 24 hours. Sound fair?

My parents had agreed to swim 10 laps (250 yards), but ended up doing 35 instead. Not bad, ya know? I was proud of 'em. I did my 2200 yards in about 45 minutes or so. My intervals were slow, but relatively steady.

This morning we set out on the bikes. I had to use my mom's hybrid, so she did her run first. I rode 11 miles, my dad biked his 5, and my mom ran 7. Here are some pics from us getting going...

Then, we all met back up at the house and set out for the last leg. My mom left on her bike for her 5m ride, and my dad ran 5m while I ran 8. Here's the transition...

My mom had just said 'Oh no, I can't find my helmet...'!

You know what I realized from the pictures? Both my mom and I had our ear-warmers on upside-down without noticing either on ourselves or on each other. My first thought was that it was because it was a picture...but no, cameras do not make things turn upside-down (but it would be pretty cool if they did, huh?). Mirrors invert, but that's about the extent of it. It's funny, I think; I'm definitely my mother's daughter!

As you can see, I made them race numbers, which they thought was hilarious.

(By the way, my mom wants me to clarify that my dad is not 10 years younger than her as the results page suggests. I guess that was my fault; I must have somehow put in the wrong year. I suppose I did the same for myself because my age is wrong too. Oh well...c'est la vie...)

We all had a great time. My mom said she wants me to move back home so I'll make her do this stuff more. I'm just hoping that some day we can meet up at races and do them together. Although, I guess we already are for the Mardi Gras Marathon...but getting them hooked into triathlons would be even better...

All in all, it was a beautiful day with an awesome race. It was my parents' first triathlon, even! We didn't do any sort of functional timing (I just put moderate guesstimates on the results page), but we had a blast and brought in the New Year with a bang, which (I believe) was the point anyhow. And you know what? It marked the first time I've ridden a bike since France...and I actually enjoyed myself!

And then of course, I felt brick legs again. I had forgotten the whole 'my legs feel like lead' sensation. I can't say I would encourage that on a regular basis, but it somehow still made me smile this first time. It was kind of like smelling something that reminds you of home.

Triathlon-training, I'm ho-ome!

GYGO!, thanks for organizing this, and here's to a great 2007!