Road Trip

Look out Augusta, here we come. Robin, Barbara, Karen, and I are leaving Friday morning to go to Augusta, Georgia to race the inaugural Ironman Augusta 70.3 (1/2 Ironman). Well not really, we are not actually racing since we are in high volume weeks training for Ironman Florida. We are hoping for slow times which means we did what we should have done and will be able to continue to train next week. No doubt, this trip is more about a girl's road trip. We are going to have sooooo much fun. I just can't wait.

My daughter, Lauren, will be taking her first road trip without a parent. She is going to Orlando for a swim meet with Charlene and her daughter, Lauren. Charlene is a great friend and a blessing in my life. She is like Lauren's second mom and is the only person I would consider letting Lauren go somewhere with for the weekend. I will not worry at all about Lauren. Charlene always has my back when I need her. I can always count on her to help me with Lauren when I have long Ironman training days. Charlene gets it. She understands what I have to do to adequately train for Ironman. And I never feel bad asking for her help as she is always more than willing to help me out. I so appreciate her friendship more than she probably knows.

Lauren has been on one other out of town trip without me but Paul was there. I had gone to Mexico for a half-ironman race with my training girls. Paul and Lauren were going to Orlando for the Athletes For a Cure Race at Disney. I made sure Lauren's suitcase was packed and she had everything she needed before I left. All Paul had to do was pick up her suitcase and put it to the car. I'm sure you know where this story is going. You guessed it, Lauren got to Orlando with no suitcase. No race clothes, no regular clothes, no bathing suit, and no Halloween costume. They had also planned to go to Disney's Not So Scary Halloween Party so she needed a Halloween costume. Thank goodness they were meeting Charlene and her family in Orlando. Once again, Charlene had my back and took Lauren shopping for everything she needed. This trip became way more expensive than it needed to be....

Lauren and I have a great, great relationship. She is so cool about all my training. She gets it!!! She understands that I have to spend a lot of time training but she also knows that when I get home that is her time. She has never made me feel guilty, not even once, about training or racing. She is a competitive swimmer so she understands the time commitments. I so appreciate her understanding of what I love to do. And she is very proud that her mom is an Ironman. This will be the first swim meet I have ever missed but I know she will be in excellent hands with Charlene. I LOVE YOU GIRL!!!