Racing with Friends

Many people have asked me why I do all this running and races and such, and there are a number of reasons. Today, I'm going to tell you about one. This one is my friend affectionately known as "Fro Fro". I had admired Fro for many years as a dear friend. She did all sorts of exciting things, like bungee jumping of a bridge in New Zealand, snorkeling the Galapagos etc. I asked her one day how she a) found the time and b) prioritized. "I make a list every year" she told me " of things I want to accomplish that year." Now if you know Fro then that sort of statement wouldn't really surprise you. It didn't me at the time, but it did inspire me. I had, at that time, already set myself the goal of running a marathon. How I was going to get there I didn't know, but it was on my "list". My "list" had one thing...bit dull if you ask me.

So come January 2005 I asked Fro what was on her list for this year and was a race part of it. I was thinking maybe I'd run a 5K or 10K with her. She pipes up, "I'd like to do a triathlon this year". Ok, I said to myself - doable. (No, sometimes I don't think, I just do.) Then the hunt for the perfect triathlon started. I had all sorts of criteria - no salt water/waves (cold, doesn't taste good and salt = sharks) - no wetsuits (sorry, NO ONE looks vaguely decent in those things and I have a hard enough time getting my sports bra off let alone a bloody wet suit!)- travel to somewhere interesting (dose one ever need a reason?) We ended up selecting the Danskin Triathlon in Austin Texas. http://www.danskin.com/triathlon.html

Three and a bit years later and I just got off the phone with the bike rental store making my reservation for the 4th annual Jo Jo - Fro Fro Triathlon series! I'll post another day on why I think the Danskin rocks (90 degree temps and all) but that's another day.

So where does that lead us? Fro got me started on this racing nonsense in a big way. We now run at least 3 races each year - not that we actually run "together", we show up at the same time and she hugs me as I come stumbling over the finish line - you get the picture. Frankly, sometimes I don't think I'd show up if she wasn't there, heck I'm not sure that I'd enter to begin with. Part of the fun for me is knowing that Fro will be there. Knowing that she'll make sure I'm aware of all the "goodies" available at the convention center, knowing she'll have at least 3 or 4 coordinated outfits to choose from, knowing that somewhere part of the event will include spectacular dining...and most importantly, knowing that (however long I take) she'll be at the finish line to take a photo.

And here we are at the finish line at the US half. She'll be there again in Vegas, in Austin twice next year and probably many more times in the future.

Aren't friends great? :)

Comments

[laurafrofro]

JoJo - I'm so touched! Your friendship means so much to me, especially the fact that no matter what crazy things we each dream up, we can usually rely on the other one to be just crazy enough to do them! xoxo, Fro Fro