First Day of School Pictures

Here are Tricia and Parker getting on the bus, yesterday. They are growing up so fast.

Here is Parker heading into school to start second grade.

Here is Tricia heading into school to start third grade. She has been counting down the days until school starts for the last month.

Tricia and Parker in the courtyard at school all ready to start the 2006-2007 school year. We look forward to many happy memories this year and lots of learning.

My Official Triathlon Results

Here are my official results from my triathlon on Sunday.

Melissa Black 14:00 5:53 1:03:26 2:04 55:49 2:21:11

My Swim was 14 minutes
Transition 1 was 5:53
Bike 1:03:26
Transition 2 was 2:04
Run 55:49

I was in the same town as my first tri, so the bike and the run were the same distances and the transition area was in the same place, so I am very pleased with the improvement in my transition times. Here are the results from my last tri. Don't compare the swims because this one was less, but it is cool to see my improvements in my transitions. My run is about the same and I was about 6 minutes longer in the bike. I was a little bummed about that, but I am very proud of the fact that I did it and that I finished. I will be doing the same two triathlons next year and I'm very excited about how I will do then.

Here is the results from my first triathlon.
1/2 mile swim0-21:27 minutes
Tranistion 1-7:30
bike 20K-57:47
Transition 2-4:33
Run-55:53

For those of you who might not know what a transition is, it's when I go from one leg of the race to the next. Transition 1 is when you are going from the swim to the bike and transition 2 is when you go from the bike to the run. At this race Transition 1 is not too close to the beach, so most people run it, but I have to slog to it (slow jog), so I'm not too fast, but was very proud of myself for shaving off a couple minutes. I have learned some little secrets to having smoother transitions. I am very excited now to keep training and be ready to do my Century ride (100 mile bike ride) on October 1st. I will not be biking the whole 100, but hope to do between 50-75 miles.

I'll be posting pictures from this triathlon soon. Tricia was my official photographer for this event.

Thanks again everyone for your ongoing support during my journey. I love you all.

Melissa

Next Triathlon is Tomorrow!!

My next Triathlon is tomorrow. It is back in Naperville, but this time will be Co-ed. It will be a shorter swim, but the bike and run are the same. I have not been training like I had hoped and have gained a few pounds since the last one, but I know that I will be able to finish it and be motivated to get back into the swing of things. Thanks for all your constant encouragement and motivation during my journey. I appreciate each and every one of you and whatever journey you may be undertaking remember YOU CAN DO IT!!

Here are the kids after I finished my first Triathlon. They were at each step of the way for me cheering me on. My transitions were a little longer than they should have been because I stopped for kisses from them each leg of the race. It's exactly what I needed to finish. Keith and the kids will be there for me tomorrow cheering me on. Keith was out of town during my first tri, so he is excited to see me participate in one. I will blog soon and let you know how it goes.

Remember, with Christ all things are possible. :-)

My First Triathlon Ever!!

On June 25th, 2006 I competed in my first triathlon ever. I was in the Subaru US Women's Triathlon Series in Naperville, Illinois. I swam 1/2 mile, biked just under 15 miles and ran a 5K. It was such a neat accomplishment and it was something that I never thought that I would ever be able to do. I love how healthy I am becoming in every area of my life.

Here I am on June 24th. I picked up my racing packet and got my numbers put on. I had butterflies in my stomach on and off all day. I had planned to do this Triathlon for about a year and I couldn't belive that the day had finally come. There were lots of vendors and speakers that day that really helped get me prepared for race day.

Here I am on June 25th, race day, after setting up my transition area with my bike. I found that everyone was very helpful and kind to us trinewbies and didn't mind answering questions. It was raining all morning and we were hoping it would stop by our wave start, but we had no such luck. It would be a cold and wet day for the race. I guess that is better than hot and humid.

Darlene is my friend of 20 years and we decided to begin our healthy lifestyle makeover together. It was her idea for us to do a triathlon, so here we are after setting up our transition area. We then had an hour to wait before our wave would start. It was really fun to watch the elite athletes. Also, because the triathlon was for Ovarian Cancer awareness the 2nd wave was cancer survivors. That was really moving to see.

Here I am coming out of the swim. The swim for me is the toughest part. I have a problem with claustrophobia and have been known to have a couple of panic attacks here and there, so my goal was to get through the swim without panicing. I did great right up until the last 5 minutes. I started to panic a little bit and another swimmer noticed and swam with me telling me I could do it. I focused on the finish line and focused on my breathing and was able to pull myself out of it. I was very proud of myself. I was able to complete my swim in 21 minutes, which was the best time I had ever had in a swim. Go Me!!

Here I am sprinting across the finish line. I was so tired and I had walked most of my 5K to that point, but when I knew I was close I just sprinted my heart out. It was so hard, but I was really proud of myself when I had finished. It is a feeling that is hard to describe. It really proved to myself that I can do anything I put my mind to and that is a good feeling for me.

Here we are after we finished our first ever triathlon. Notice our cool finisher medals. Our next adventure together will be doing a century ride in October.

Here is a picture of Darlene and I a few years back. It is amazing to me that I ever let myself get to that point. We have come so far together and are very excited about our journey ahead. We are excited to see where God leads us and how He will use our journey to help, encourage and inspire others to better themselves. Darlene, thanks for being such a good friend through thick and thin. I could not make it through life without you. I have loved the first 20 years of our friendship. Here's to the next 20. You go girl!!

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength-Philippians 4:13

Parker gets his orange belt

As most of you know Parker has been taking Kung Fu since about April. He has been working towards getting his second belt and he has done so. This past Monday he got tested for his orange belt and did awesome. He had to do everything he had learned to that point. When I asked him how he felt during testing he replied, "A lot of stress Mom, a lot of stress."
Here are some pictures. Enjoy!!

Here Parker is doing an inside out block.

Here the boys are getting some instruction from Shihan.

After a lot of sweat and hard work Parker receives his Orange belt. It was over 100 degrees that day with the heat index and there is no air conditioning in the building, so when I say after a lot of sweat, I really mean it. Shihan was telling the boys that when he trained in Japan during the summer that it was a lot hotter than this. Us Moms wanted to tell him, "Shihan, this ain't Japan." But he did give the boys lots of breaks.

Presenting the newest Orange Belt at Ganghi's Martial Arts with his teacher Shihan Ganghi. We are so proud of Parker's hard work and dedication to his Martial Arts training. He wakes up almost everyday saying, " Only ___ days left till Kung Fu." Good Job little buddy!!