Triathlon

Less than 12 hours before the starting buzzer rang out I planned to be on the sideline.  Fighting a sinus infection and feeling generally unprepared I didn't think I could make it.  Instead, Saturday morning I woke up feeling better than I had in days and decided that trying and failing would be better than not trying at all.  And who knew, maybe I wouldn't fail.  Also, as much as I don't like to fail, I dislike giving up even more.  So...

I sniffed my Afrin (even though I recommend against it all of the time, I found this to be an exception), put on my suit, and headed out.  We barely made it in time, but that didn't give me much time to second guess my commitment.  I felt calm until I started to wade into the muddy, mucky waters of Holmes lake.  With just seconds before start time it hit me.  I can't back out.  I'm not on the side line.  Now I either give up or I finish.  Do or die.  Maybe "die" is an exaggeration, but I was, after all, headed into a deep lake.

Throughout the rest of the race do or die; do it; I'm doing it ran through my head.  And guess what... now I can say that I did it.

I did it, but I did not do it alone.  When we checked in, they asked, "Individual or team?"  While I signed up as an individual, it was my "team" that got me here.  In honor of that, here are a few shout-outs.

• First and foremost, my mom.  Literally, I would not have done it without her.  She was essentially the single mom for the boys.  I know how difficult it is to haul them and their stuff around, and she did it with a smile on her face.
• In as much as Mom helped practically, Dad helped keep me emotionally.  Five years ago it was me and him, and he's been in every race I've done since then.  That is, until this year.  Still, he kept encouraging me with emails, texts, etc...  He also let me use his bike, which made that part of the race tolerable.
• Keeping with the family theme, you'd be crazy if you didn't think my husband deserved a shout-out!  It isn't even worth trying to put it all into one paragraph and risk making it seem finite or containable.  If you know him, you already know he's awesome.  But seriously - AWESOME!
• Finally, my boys.  They are probably the best motivators around.  Sure, at ages 2 and 1 they never said "Keep going, Mommy," or "You can do it."  But those smiles at the top of the last bike hill said it all.
• I also want to give a shout-out to the CSG Triathlon women.  Numbers were down this year, so all the women were grouped together instead of dividing us up by age.  We were far outnumbered by the guys.  With a cheer as we got into the water, we knew we were in it together.  Through the rest of the race, it was nothing but sweet encouragement from these ladies.
• Here's some love for those confident racers who despite a lack of a model-type body came out in their suits and spandex.
• And to the Scheel's biker shorts guy.  For the entire second lap of the bike race we went back and forth.  I passed him.  He passed me.  Eventually, he won, and I had to stare at his Scheel's biker shorts for the rest of the final lap.
• My biker friend had legs about twice the length of mine, so there was no way I was keeping up with him.  However, at about the 1 mile mark on the jog a new partner came along.  I could hear her feet crunching on the gravel trail just steps behind me, but she wasn't coming up too fast.  She was just keeping pace.  It kept me going, and pushed me to go a little faster.  Every now and again she would say something encouraging to me or other racers, and I returned the favor when her jog slowed to walk on the big hill.  She smiled and then picked up the pace to follow back in step.
• Lastly, here's a little shout-out to "Element."  Thanks for the shirt.  I left my jogging shirt at the hotel.  Smooth, I know.

As I said before, I think this is my last triathlon for a while.  Therefore, I'm especially glad that I didn't let a little sinus infection or inadequate training stand in the way this year.  Even though finishing is addicting, I'm not convinced that another summer of training is in my near future.  Who knows though, I could be wrong...