I did it!!!!!

Well, the triathlon is over! And -- I finished it! Yeah! I was the slowest one in our group -- but not the last one of all -- close though. However, I felt strong throughout the whole thing -- and kept going, so that is what matters. Here are the fun details:

About a minute before our swim started, we were in the water, ready to head over to the 'starting line' and I tightened my goggles -- and broke them! OOPS. So, then, the horn blew, and I was off -- goggleless, but swimming. Hope I don't get some awful eye infection from the dirty water. After rounding the second buoy I just kept swimming -- with my eyes closed. Next thing I knew, I looked up and there was an ASU kayaker coming out to get me because I was so far off the course! So, there went a few minutes of hard-earned swimtime. But, once I got out of the water, and had my wet suit 'stripped' by the strippers, I was off. The rest of the race went exactly as planned - slow, grueling -- but without further incident.

The bike portion was hard and the longest part. The run was slow -- and steady. I was jogging so slow -- but I kept jogging. I probably ran 95% of the way. I ran the last 50 meters with the kids on either side.

I finished in about 1 hour and 50 minutes. I felt tired, but perfectly fine the whole race. I had wanted to enjoy the race DURING the race -- and I did. I must have told myself 20 times during the race -- THIS IS IT! You are actually doing it! I was smiling lots of the time. It was so fun to see all my friends at the finish line (the bonus for being the last one is you get all of them there to cheer you on). My family and friend Crystal came. It was great! Here is the whole group of us:

Liz Barrett, me, Janae Samuelson, Michelle Budge, Diana Waite, Kathy Skinner, Alison Wirthlin

I'm so proud of all of us! What a great way to celebrate Mother's Day.