I DID IT, REMEMBERED WHY I LOVED IT, INSPIRED TO DO BETTER...and didn't die. August 30,2014

Today was the day! To say I was apprehensive, nervous (and by nervous I mean the kind of nervous that you think your going to wet your pants or worse and feeling like I was going to throw up kind of nervous) not feeling ready and concerned about my leg.  Throw in a little excitement to finally be back doing something that I used to love...and you have my morning.  My little family wished me luck, grabbed a few smooches and a concerned husband telling me to be careful and that I could do this, and I headed to orientation. 

The start of the swim was in Mooney's Bay so as we waded in with goggles and swim caps and as the water started to get higher so did my nerves.  AND THEN BANG...away we went, I started doing front crawl but somehow got a little turned around and was swimming toward the beach so I switched it up to breast stroke.  Its amazing how much your thoughts can either motivate you or discourage you, as I saw many bobbing heads in front of me my thoughts turned to negative ones "you can't do this", "your out of shape", "you haven't trained properly", "your too big right now" and the thoughts kept coming UNTIL I made a conscious decision that I was doing it and I was doing it right now and while some of my negative thoughts were true I wasn't about to quit.  I AM NOT A QUITTER! I was doing this for me.  This was the start of my journey about getting back into shape post kids and setting a good example for my family.  The swim ended and I headed to the bike portion, hoped on my bike at the mounting station and headed down the canal.  The first part I felt good, my legs weren't tired and I was passing people, when we hit the turn around it got tougher.  The wind was against us and I could start to feel my legs working harder.  When I was almost done the bike portion I looked up and there was President McAteer cheering us on, it was so nice to see someone you knew, shouting your name and encouraging you.  When I got off my bike to head to the running portion my legs felt a little like jello and that I had forgot them somewhere along the course. 

The run was the portion I was the most nervous about, I had not trained at all for it, for fear my lower leg would flair up again (Physio, x-rays, massage) but I managed to jog/walk/scootch and the surprising thing was it felt okay.   I was hoping the swim training and bike training would cover me for the run and it seemed to.  Then as I was about to cross the finish line I heard my name again and saw another friend Suzanne with her new baby, encouraging me along the way.  Then on to the finish line. 

I FINISHED

I turned the corner and there was my beautiful family.  I was PROUD of myself, for finishing and finishing well above what I thought I would do. 

I need to thank "Kate the Great" for asking me to be a part of this adventure with her.  Had she not asked me to do this with her I wouldn't have started my journey back to me.  She is "great" because first of all her sense of humour is awesome, she's kind, funny, smart, great communicator (inside joke) fun to be around and did I mention she just had her third baby 3 months ago via c-section and she did the triathalon and rocked it! Super Woman!! 

I'm excited to see my progress and return to my former self for our next tri.