Getting the boys ready for their triathlon and listening to them voice their anxieties before the race was absolutely priceless. You would have thought that they had stood next to me and listened to every word that has come out of my mouth before every triathlon that I've done. When in actuality, they have never been to one of my triathlons. Here are some of the things they were saying:
How far do we have to go after we turn the corner?
How long is the run?
That swim looks REALLY long.
I think the water is going to be freezing!
How deep is it? What if I can't touch?
They were so cute talking about all of the things that worried them. I assured them that everything would be fine and that all that counted was that they had fun. And they did! (Although the whole time that I ran with Finn from the swim up to transition 1, he told me about how much seaweed there was and how it kept grabbing his legs and making him get stuck. Man, was I laughing inside. I HATE seaweed!!!!)
Both boys had a great race and have been talking about it for the last two days. I love it!!!
But I have to admit, I was completely jealous of their triathlon! (Childish?.....YES!) I haven't done a triathlon since my Ironman last August. I didn't even think I was missing it that much, but watching them out on the course (and seeing the course for a triathlon being set up right next to theirs) made me have an urge to get out there and race! So, I got the details about the race that was being set up. It was an off road triathlon/duathlon the next day at 8:00am. Off road?!?! PERFECT!! It was as if the whole weekend was falling into place!
I waited all day Saturday before I talked to anyone about possibly doing the race. I wanted to make sure that I REALLY wanted to do it. Yup. I sure did! So Saturday night I got approval from Will and loaded up my car. The duathlon was my choice for the race for two reasons. First, I was supposed to be running 12 miles, and if I did the duathlon I would get in 6.2 instead of just 3.1 in the triathlon. Next, I still haven't developed a love for swimming! Hahahaha! Even after Finn's description of the weeds grabbing his feet, it didn't sound like fun!
Race morning I was a little nervous, but I wasn't feeling very well (my migraine induced vertigo has been surfacing again over the last week...ggrrrrr!), so that is really what I was thinking about. I was concerned that I wouldn't even be able to finish the race if the vertigo got any worse, let alone actually do well. But once the race got going I was able to manage fine and could tell that if I maintained a good speed, I would have a chance of placing (duathlons are typically much smaller than triathlons....ssshhhhh!).
So I pushed through the race as fast as I could. There were points on the course when I literally thought I would never catch my breathe. It was hard! On the second run (it goes run, bike, run) with about 1 mile left I passed the woman that I had been trying to catch for the whole race. There's a chance she swore as I ran by, and I knew I couldn't let down my pace for the last mile. She was ticked off! So I continued to give it my all and finished as the 1st place female for the duathlon, less than 1 minute ahead of her. What an amazing feeling! It has been a LONG time since I've pushed myself that hard, and it felt awesome. (Well, it actually felt like I might throw up, but my heart was happy!)
I got to go home and show the boys my 2 medals (1 for finishing and 1 for placing) and my check for $100! Finally, when they asked how I did I got to say that I won!! It may never happen again, but it happened yesterday.
If I wouldn't have had to cancel my 12 mile trail run Saturday morning I definitely wouldn't have done that race. It just goes to show that everything happens for a reason. Always have your eyes open to other opportunities. Something amazingly fun and awesome is out there waiting for you!
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