"Tri"-ing Your Hardest

Andrew's sister Amanda just completed her THIRD triathlon of the year this weekend at the Nation's Triathlon in Washington, D.C. (Picture swiped from Amanda's Facebook page):

While Andrew and I were unable to make it down to cheer her on, it did remind me that I had a long overdue post to get up regarding her second triathlon at the end of July. which we did have the pleasure of attending. I think it was one of the hottest weekends of the summer, and Andrew's parents, Andrew and I all traveled down to the Princeton, NJ area to watch Amanda compete in the New Jersey State Triathlon.

This is Amanda and Andrew posing before the start of the triathlon. Yes, Amanda looked that calm and collected while knowing that she was going to start an Olympic triathlon, which means swimming 1500 meters, biking 25.5 miles, and running 6.2 miles - YIKES!

This is the chaos that marks a triathlon, but I have to say that everything was well organized:

Amanda's group in the water, waiting for their start. Bonus points to anyone that can pick Amanda out in the picture (I have a rough sense for what area she's in, but all those gray caps look alike to me!):

I love this shot - I call this the "Brotherly Love" photo. Andrew proudly held that sign up high and was yelling his heart out, cheering Amanda on although I doubt she was able to see us or hear us while racing in the water:

And they're off! These ladies don't mess around in the water. In fact, Amanda's training groups all practiced swimming together in one lane so they would get used to the crowding/elbows everywhere/getting kicked sensation from a triathlon:

Out of the water and heading for the bikes, Amanda doesn't even look winded as she spots us on the sidelines:

In transition with her bike, she ready to start the almost 26 mile long cycling portion of the triathlon. This was the one part of the triathlon where we couldn't actually see her competing:

Final triathlon phase is the running portion. Let me tell you, it would be hard for me to run six miles on a normal day and yet Amanda is still smiling while running in extreme heat (we're talking mid-90's at least) and after swimming and biking. Triathletes are truly incredible!

It was incredibly exciting to watch Amanda cross the finish line and we were all cheering her on as she received her medal for completing the triathlon:

After a quick walk through the water tent (I don't know what these are really called but what a neat concept):

We posed for own shot with Amanda. It is one thing to see all the things that triathletes do in competition, and marvel over the distances but quite another to see a triathlon in action. Needless to say, we were incredibly proud of Amanda:

So while we didn't get to see her this weekend, and I heard that the triathletes competed in the rain, I have no doubts that Amanda did well. In fact, I've heard rumblings about Amanda beating her best personal time so major kudos to her!