I've never pushed my body more than I did yesterday. It was great, it was humbling, and I hope to do it again, maybe even again next year... Pictures to come after they've been developed...Forgot my camera (doh!)Final time was 5 hours, 2 minutes and 3 seconds. I had hoped to do it in 4 hours. But I am okay with my timing. I worked my ass off.
Above are a few photos at the beginning of my swim. The reason you can't see me is because I was one in about 7 thousand athletes this weekend that participated.
Here's the breakdown according to my own timing: (these are rough estimates, I kept forgetting to turn off my stop watch before I got to the transition area)So these are from memory and not totally accurate.
swim (.93 miles) = 1 hour 5 minutes (this transition was the longest, getting out of a wetsuit and into biking gear is very tedious)
bike (25.2 miles) = 2 hours 20 minutes (had a few close calls, with some downhill high speeds, but made it through without eating gravel)
run (6.2 miles) = 1 hour 10 minutes (not totally sure on this timing, I never knew I could be so tired, I could barely run downhill)
my transitions took me longer than I expected 5 - 10 minutes each or so.. I was all over the place!
It was awesome. I am sore today but soo very humbled. There were handicapped folks with only two arms, no legs, or one leg, people of all types that competed. Overall, I have to say the support of my team is what really got me through it. As much of a pill as I was during the training season, their encouragement helped enormously. The frosting on the cake was seeing my sweet husbands face as I got out of the water trying to take my photo, and finally when I crossed the finish line. My parents were sooo sweet too cheering me on. The enormity of the whole thing was mind blowing, and how much it really makes you value your health and blessings. They all gleamed when I came across the line, and it made me feel so good. But the last person I ran to was Michael. It was great. The feeling I got is inexplicable. (it was the a combination of wanting to laugh, cry, and throwing myself back into the lake to cool off all at the same time)
There were old people (79 I think was the oldest) and young people (12 year old girl) that completed the whole course. And then the bulk of us 25-40 age range.
I will never forget this weekend. How hard I pushed myself, and how much harder I CAN push myself.
There have only been a few personal challenges that I am very proud of, now to add to my list
1. Raising over $3k for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
2. Actually being able to classify myself as a "tri-athlete"
3. Climbing Half Dome. (which now seems like such a small feat)
my next venture...to complete a full marathon before 40. I want to get back into weight training and tone up a bit first. (I actually considered going running today...until I realized that I need to let my body catch up with my brain.)But for today.. I think I've earned a day off :)
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