Well…what can I say? Sometimes it just isn’t your day.
Or, as I told a friend, “Sometimes you kill the race, and sometimes it kills you.”
Official finish time: 4:04:23.
Let’s play a little game that Hubby and I enjoy after a hard day: High/Low…
Low? That time. Ouch. It’s a full 34+ minutes than my worst-case scenario guesstimate. Granted, a sore throat and low-grade fever came into play (I suspected during the race, and confirmed after) — but no excuses: There were a few other factors than played into how the race ultimately went downhill down. I’ll dive into those in the full recap (coming Wednesday).
High? First was the fact that I finished. There were a few moments where either my mind or my body were begging me to bail, but I ‘sucked it up, buttercup’ and got it done, which I’m proud of. Second was the people. I had an inspiring experience with a different person throughout each of the legs, and that was just the push I needed to keep going when the going got tough. More on that Wednesday, too…
But in the meantime, congrats to a few of my family and friends who completely rocked it out there: Hubby for nabbing a new PR (he’s on a roll after last weekend’s half marathon!), Tara for completing her first Olympic distance on her road to a half Ironman and Jessica for crushing the course on her way to the Wildflower half.
And last — but certainly not least — I want to send a huge thank-you out to Doris (pictured with me above), not only for being an inspiration in all things triathlon, but also for embodying all things ‘heart and courage.” At the start, she gave me some final words of wisdom to help ease my open-water anxiety…and she hung out for more than an hour after she finished (sub-three hours, no less!) to watch me cross the finish.
Now THAT, friends, is why I do these events. You can still feel like a winner — surrounded by kind, generous and wonderful people — even when the numerical results beg to differ.
Stay tuned for the full race report on Wednesday. And thank you for all the words of encouragement and congratulations…you guys are the best!!
Kinetic Fix 
YAY!! Great job and I can’t wait to hear the full recap!! Awesome!! 🙂
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Thank you!!
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That course was HARD! The hills were nuts. After about mile 16 on the bike every new hill felt like a personal insult. I also finished about half an hour after I expected to. Congrats on pushing through!
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Thank you! And agreed – I was playing cat & mouse with one guy on the hills (I’d pass him on way up/he’d pass me on way down) and I kept telling him, “We HAVE to be done soon?!” The run was just as hilly! But CONGRATS to you for finishing, too!
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You finished!! That is a huge “high” and when you race this distance again under better circumstances, you’ll set a HUGE PR 😉 I can’t wait to read the full recap!!
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Thank you! Yes – exactly…only up from here, right?!
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I know it wasn’t an ideal day but you powered through and finished! You are bad ass! Congrats =)
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Thank you!
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I’ve loved reading about all your training up to it! CONGRATS! What a great accomplishment! When are you signing up for your next?
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Thank you so much! Well, I’ve got some running to focus on now (50K end of May is next biggie), but after that…thinking maybe a sprint-distance tri this summer?
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Jen, you won, before the race, by just signing up to do it!! You will always be a winner in our book!! Love ya, MOP
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That’s a great way to look at it – thank you for always being our biggest cheerleaders!
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you’re too sweet. thank you for the kind words, i’m so happy i could be there to cheer you on! you have much to be proud of 🙂
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Thanks – you, too!!
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