YAHOOOOO - Sucessful Tri

The miracle is not that you finished, the miracle is that you had the courage to begin - author unknown.

Here I am, back home,just out of a nice hot shower, and freaking happier than a pig in shit! What an emotional rollercoaster the last two weeks have been. I think I have changed my mind at least 3 times..... I'm doing it, nope can't do it......I'm doing it.....nope I can't do it ..... you get the picture. The drive out to Kelso was wet. the walk into the start area even worse, we were soaked to the bone. The worst part for me was the swim. When I got into the water before the race started, this sense of calm came over me, but when we started the race with people kicking etc I panicked about a 3rd of the way out. I grabbed onto a race official on a kayak and told him I can't do it, I am done!( I should really clarify, that this wasn't a random guy in a kayak.... he was there to help swimmers who were tired or in distress lol) He told me to just relax and catch my breath. I was thinking about all the hard work that has gone into this, and my family and friends who came out to cheer me on.....and then something just clicked inside my head and I was off..... I didn't stop until I emerged from the lake to the cheer of the crowd.....Off to the bike(which had 3 hills, which I am proud to say I didn't have to push up any of them- lol) and then I walked most of the 2.5k.....

I didn't win any awards, but I finished and that was the greatest achievement ever. My unofficial time was 1 hr 22 mins, but I am hoping the offical time will be around 1 hr 15 mins. Doesn't matter though.... I am so proud of myself today.

The best part for me was having a woman come up to me at the end to congratulate me. She was a bit heavier and came out to see what it was all about. She said she wants to compete in the event but is too scared..... I talked to her about my fears etc and said I hoped to see her out there next year.... and she said she thinks she just might try it. I think I inspired her, and that makes me feel great.

Also, I took the advice of a very smart Duathlete/Triathlete, who's blog I came across but accident and who has inspired me over the last few months. He said to have fun and talk with the crowd. I totally did that, exchanging laughs with the police out on the bike and with the crowd in the transition. It totally made for an amazing day. We enjoyed it so much we are planning to do another in July and a final one in August :)

Hmmmmmmm, stay tuned for my next adventure...

UPDATE: OFFICIAL TIME IS 1:16:22