I TRI-ed!

I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself an athlete. I love sports and all things outdoors, but more of what I do is just for fun!  I have always wanted to compete in a triathlon, but never really set my mind to it until this year.  I mean, like I really needed something else to consume my time!  But I wanted to loose some weight, so I set the goal and was determined to do it!  The entire process has been such a wonderful experience!  I started training about 12 weeks ago.  I found a training plan on line that a guy had made for his senior citizen mom to use to train for her first triathlon.  I figured that would be a good plan for me!  Having grown-up on a swim team, I wasn’t worried about the swim portion of the race.  I wasn’t worried about the bike too much either, except for the fact that my bike is a $60 walmart bike!  I was most concerned about the running.  I hate to run!  When I started training, I would run 1 minute and walk 2 and it was torture!  But with persistence, I slowly learned to run at a steady pace for miles!  When I would go for runs, I would carry a small card in my hand with prayer requests on it.  It was a great time for me to pray for those I love and keep my mind off the pain! 

As the triathlon drew closer, I became more and more nervous.  Could I really do this?  Was I going to come in last place?  I continued to pray that God would give me the strength to finish and a peace to calm my nerves.  I also prayed that he would give me someone to buddy with during the race, since I was doing it alone.  God answered my prayers!  Before the race started I met two women who had done a few triathlons and they were so sweet to talk with me and answer my questions.  I had so much fun talking with them; I almost missed my swim start!  Yikes!  The bike portion would have been hard to do with a buddy, especially when everyone has $1,000 bikes and I had my 30lb walmart bike!  I just used this time, all 18 miles, to enjoy God’s beauty in nature and soak it all in!  When I got to the run, the first mile was pure pain!  My legs felt like jelly and steel all mixed-up!  I was tempted to walk, but I caught up with a 60 year-old man on mile 2 who was a Godsend!  He encouraged me and finished out the race with me!  I’m sure he could have just blown on, but he was so kind to stay my pace and chat as we finished the race!

Matt was preaching at a D-Now this weekend, so he wasn’t able to go with me to Lexington for the race.  Thankfully I have some amazing friends that decided to go with me and be my cheerleaders!  They were incredible support and I am so thankful they were there!  Lindsey and Marisa would find me at different points throughout the race and cheer me on.  It was so very encouraging!  I also have the best parents in the world that drove up from Knoxville to see me race!  I was so excited to see them all at the finish line!  Thank you, Lord for this amazing journey and for caring me through!  By the way, I finished the race and didn’t come in last place!  J