I was sitting at home one day, 6 years ago, when I realized how quickly my life had changed. Suddenly my husband and I were semi empty nesters. Our 16 year old son “lived” at home , at least I saw evidence of him, dirty dishes, dirty laundry, landfill for a bedroom. Our daughter Julie was a sophmore at Virginia Tech and our daughter Sarah had just gotten married in a wonderfully fun filled large wedding.
Suddenly I had time for me! What a concept. Okay well that lasted about mmmm, not very long. Then I found were going to be grandparents!!
Holy cow!!!
I was thrilled of course but this is a lot to take in. I never even got the chance to nag for grandchildren.
Oh the deprivation.
Well at 46 I didn’t think I looked like a Grandma but it did make me take stock of what I wanted to do/be with the rest of my life. I had the fleeting thought that if I can be a young grandma then maybe I could stick around and be a great grandma.
Holy Cow Again!
Time to get healthy. And I finally had the time(?) , or at least did not have to cater to 4 other schedules, appetites, likes and dislikes. I gave myself a year. My deadline was my 25th wedding anniversary in July…this was now Oct.
Okay that’s not a year, math is not my thing.
I had been avoiding the scale so I’m not sure what my starting weight was.

I WISH this was the true!
I lost weight…very slowly and I ‘m not quite sure how much since I am not sure where I started. I’ m guessing between 20-30lbs.
I became a Grandma in May..to Nicholas. Such fun. And to fast forward a bit ..we have been blessed to welcome a grand baby every year since ( except this year 2009) for a total of 5 between our 2 daughters)
Okay onto the condensed version. Rediscovered my sense of adventure and decided to train for a 5k ( 3.2 miles) which is pretty adventuresome for someone who has never run. My husband signed up with me although this was a cake walk for him since he has been running for more than 30 years.
One 5k led to another.
And then I caught a glimpse of the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon on TV. Much to my surprise there were other triathlon distances than the grueling Iron Man. One was called a Sprint Tri and it was a half mile swim, a 12 mile bike ride and you guessed it a 5k run!!
And the next one was over our wedding anniversary!! In Minnesota!
Can you say ADVENTURE.
Nothing says love like sweating together.
So I signed us up without really even knowing what it involved.
Stay tuned…the tri adventure has just begun!


Jenn, congrats on your web blog! I am already intrigued to learn more about triathlons that start off smaller.
Thanks!
Congrats on your blog!!!
I feel like a slug. I’ll keep reading – I know you have the ability to inspire me!