Crossing the finish line ...

is the greatest feeling! What an awesome race today! The weather was Divine this morning. The water was in the 70's and it felt great! I had a road bike this time around which made a significant difference on the bike part instead of a mountain bike ... I passed several people on mountain bikes and I was thankful I was not on one. By the time the run came around it was quite toasty ... easily 95 degrees ... but it is all worth it when you hear people applauding and you run, arms in the air, yelling WHOOOO HOOOOOO, across the finish line. Can't you just imagine?!? It was fabulous.

I had a 3 solid goals for myself;
1. To really enjoy the swim and being in the open water.
2. To pass people on the bike ride and say "left".
3. To do the run in under 45 minutes.

I did all 3. When I had passed the 1st buoy I did stop for a moment and take a look around, just to make sure I was moving ... it is an odd sensation with all those people in the water ... after swimming at the Y in calm water you can see in ... then to be in water that you can hardly see your hand in front of you and the choppiness of the water, I wanted to make sure I was actually going some where. Ha. It was great though ... I love swimming.

The last time I did this triathlon I had a mountain bike and I was bummed when I was constantly passed by women saying "left" ... I was excited to be one of those women today.

"Left. Thank you. Left. On your Left, Thanks!"

At one point I was thinking about a memory from Seal Beach. Melissa, Randy (her Dad) and I would go on great bike rides on the weekend ... for miles and miles down the beach boardwalk ... we called ourselves "The Whizzers" ... since we whizzed on by. Made me smile as I was riding today thinking about that ... I loved those rides with Randy and Melissa.

Then the run ... I was happy to run in under 45 minutes ... my pace was around 13 minutes, which was great considering the heat and the mondo hill the 1st part of the run ... oh, and I had just swam a 1/2 mile and rode for 12 miles ... so yea, my time was rockin!

I got to sneak a peak at my actual race times on the Tri-for-the-cure website ... I'll get some pictures from the race soon ... and if possible, I'll post them in all my race gear glory! So here is the official breakdown;

Swim 22:19
Transition 7:13
Bike 44:24 (15.4 mph)
Transition 5:25
Run 41:48 (13.29/mile)
Total: 2:01:11

I think it is so cool how you get the official breakdown including your transition times ... just a minute over 2 hours and I can see how my transitions could be way, way, way shorter!

I am super proud of myself ... I took time to enjoy every moment and I praised God the entire time. It is quite a gift to have a body that can handle such a race, that can float in the water, that can peddle a bike and can run for 3 miles. Phenomenal.

I love this race because it is all women ... every shape, size and color that you can imagine. As I was waiting for my wave to go into the water, women were coming out of the lake and the applause for everyone was heart warming. My eyes welled up at one point when several older, and I mean older, women came out of the water ... they were breathing pretty hard but the Divine look of accomplishment was overwhelming. I pray that my body will keep up and I will still be doing races like that when I am older too. There will always be someone younger or older, thinner or heavier ... and I just really enjoyed being me, at this moment, with this body. It was a great race!

Thank you Lord for today, for the sunshine, the warm water and the blue skies. Thank you for the nap I got to take this afternoon with Matthew, as we were up all night long last night with him throwing up. I feel renewed and I am filled with gratitude. Onward I go Lord, following wherever You may lead me. Amen.