$8,000

Holy cow! We raised $8,000 for the Mark Felice Childhood Cancer Fund this year. I want to say the biggest thank you from the bottom of my heart. Whether you wrote a check, wore a t-shirt, cheered us on at the race, called to say "good-luck" or even just took the time to read Mark's story...you helped us and it truly made an impact. And will make an impact to the many many families in need of a little help. 

The Cap Tex Triathlon is always on Memorial Day in Austin. This triathlon honors brave men and women of the armed forces and ensures the significance of Memorial Day. We race to recognize those serving our country.

We woke up before the sun and made it to our transition area in time to see the beautiful sunrise over Lady Bird Lake (I still call it Town Lake). Ann Marie and I wanted to get there early because my mom's race started an entire hour before us. She kicked it up a notch this year and did the Olympic distance (twice the distance of our Sprint). I guess when you are racing longer, they let you start earlier. Nice perk. 

Davis had fun cheering us on this year. My mom gave him a very loud cow bell! 

Race Recap

Swim: I enjoyed the swim this year. I have finally figured out that I simply cannot start my swim with a sprint. In years past I try to get out ahead of the crowd, but sprinting at the beginning of a swim just panics me and leaves me breathless. This usually leads me to doing a little backstroke and sidestroke to help me catch my breath. I'm much faster if I get my swim groove going first, then about halfway through the half mile swim, I pick it up. I finished the swim in 17 minutes. 

Bike: It's difficult to gage my bike time each year because wind really plays a role in how fast I can go. And every year I've done the Cap Tex, I feel like it's always super windy. The bike course is so much fun, weaving our way through downtown. For the Sprint distance, we take 2 laps. For the Olympic, it's 4 laps. Lapping makes it fun because we get to see each other along the course...I saw Renee, my mom, Ann Marie, and Jaki. The 12 mile bike took me 45 minutes. 

Run: This year the run was really tough on me. I was cramping. I think it was because I tried a new GU. I learned my lesson, only use the GUs I've used in practice. My biggest goal for these races is first, to always finish. And second, never walk. Every once in a while I could see Ann Marie just a little bit ahead of me. I really wanted to catch up with her, but I couldn't. Would have been fun to cross the finish line together. The torturous 3 mile run took me 28 minutes. 

Results: I finished 10th out of 41 in my age group. I think I'm liking my age group. I don't have to compete with the super fast Jaki, Renee, and Ann Marie! My mom did awesome for her first Olympic distance. She crossed the finish line after 3 hours and 24 minutes with a smile and said, "well that was fun!" Walk in the park, ha! 

Before Race

Our Fans

My #1 Fan with a Rainbow

Action Shot

Done!

And Done!

What's next? We like to wait out the intense summer heat, so our sights are set on the Kerrville Triathlon in September. We had a blast last year, and are recruiting more people to join this year. We also plan to make a weekend out of it in Kerrville!

Thanks again for helping us raise $8,000! We exceeded our goal of $5,000 and the Felice's are going to match it...do the math people...we are giving $16,000 to the Mark Felice Childhood Cancer Fund. Awesome!