Race Day!

 “Head to the starting line with the knowledge that the woman who starts the race is not the same as the woman who will finish it.” – Sally Edwards

Race day was eventful and filled with moments I could never explain. I can’t imagine going through the experience without all of my wonderful family being there by my side. Between Forrest, his parents, my parents, Amberly’s family, it seemed like someone was there every corner I made with a camera and a big smile. It made me feel so good and reminded me of how thankful I am for them.

So starting with the morning of:

I was extremely grateful that Forrest had set up accommodations for all of us at a lodge on site because that made such a difference in how we were all able to spend our morning. We didn’t have to deal with traveling, parking, waking up extra early, etc. It was absolutely perfect!

The day started at 5:30am which was the time that the transition area opened. Amberly and I rolled out of bed after waking up every couple of hours through the night thinking it was game time. The transition area was just opening up and we wanted to be some of the first ones down there to rack our bikes, which we were. The temperature outside was in the lower 60’s so it felt a little chilly. Feeling a little anxious at this point especially thinking about getting in that water!

Next we came back to the room to get ready, ate a little breakfast, and gathered all of our things. Then around 7am, we headed back down to the transition area to set our things up next to our bikes. We then went through the body marking area to get all of our numbers put on us and eventually made our way down to the swim start, setting our shoes up along the way.  Soon it was time to put our lovely swim caps on and line up according to our wave.

     

The swim went well. I started in the back and fortunately did not experience any leg kicks to the face or anything like. I only choked on water once and had to stop to catch my breath. Other than that, I finished feeling good and ready to start the bike.

Amberly and I met up in transition after the swim which was nice because for the remainder of the event we were able to stay together. The bike course was difficult because of all the hills but we made it through.

   

We still had energy for the run but decided to take it easy. The course was a little rocky and the last mile was completely uphill. We finished strong and held each others hands as we crossed the finish line.

 

 

 

Afterwards we celebrated and had fun rooting the rest of the women on as they crossed the finish line!

 

Thank you to all my family for being so great to me and for all of the support this weekend. It means so much to me. and I will always cherish the memories we made!