day 118: i'm a triathlete!

that photo is so awesome because it was taken by my fantastic husband, without whom this weekend really wouldn't have been much fun at all.

i'll do a nauseatingly detailed race post-mortem when i recover a little more, but let me just tell you guys the important stuff:

1) i survived, and finished
2) i feel awesome, only mildly sore and quite happy and pleased with myself
3) i had a wonderful time and really enjoyed 90% of the race
4) i accomplished my mental goals: racing my own race, having fun, and no fear or panic (the mental aspect is the one i'm most proud of)

and
5) i blew away my time goal of 3:30. by breaking 3 hours.

for those of you who love numbers, my final time breakdown was:

2:58:02 total time

26:48 swim
[4:09 T1]
1:24:30 bike (19.3 mph average)
[2:31 T2]
1:00:06 run (9:41 min/mi pace)

of all 884 competitors, i came in 365 overall; 146th on the swim, 229th on the bike, and 604th on the run (i told you i'm a slow runner!). still, my run pace was better than the 5 mile road race pace i kept 2 months ago, so i'm really happy with that effort on a very hilly course.

of the 68 women ages 25-29, i came in 20th.
of the 398 women, i came in 96th.

and, i shit you not, had i been classified as an athena (women over 150 lbs; i'm 185), i would have won the gold in that division. just saying.

all those numbers are great and all - i'm pretty blown away by how well i did; i didn't expect it, or plan on it, and perhaps that's why i did so well. my number one priority today was to race my own race and not let all the competitors around me stress me out or change my gameplan. and i wanted to really enjoy the day - the scenery, feeling fit, how much i love biking, sunshine, and supportive teammates. i enjoyed all those things; i even found things to enjoy while running. and that, at the end of the day, makes me feel most celebratory. kicking some ass is icing on the cake.

will i do more of these? pretty sure. and maybe i'll get classed with the fatties next time so i can try to come home with a medal in addition to my big grin :)