In Pursuit Of A Bit Of Celebration

My niece Melissa is the inspiration for this particular celebration.  She successfully took up tri-ing several years ago. When I started swimming, both she and I made note that I now had the third skill necessary for a triathlon, with running and biking already in my scope of abilities.  She enjoys participating in organized public events, which are readily available in Houston where she lives.  Public events are not so readily available for me, plus I don't have the necessary road bike.

Thus, I chose to create my own event to celebrate the end of my swimming season and to welcome summer activities.  Swimming is in place from November through April.  Running is a year-round activity.  Biking is typically a summer activity because roads are closed & muddy and weather too cold for my liking during the winter.  With this event in mind, I started doing some indoor biking at the Aquaplex at the beginning of the year.  However, as winter weather dissipated and roads dried out, I was able to take my bike out of storage and  ride outside.  All elements happily coincided to make this celebration a reality today.

The sprint-tri distance for swimming is 1/2 mile.  I'm ready!

Ron generously agreed to come to the pool this morning to take these pix.

I drove to a forest road near home for the bike & run, which were both out-and-back.  This is the beginning and end:

Ready for the 12 mile bike ride:

and last, the 5K (3.1 mile) run:

SUCCESS!

I really enjoyed this challenge and found it nicely met my celebratory criteria.