Tri-rific!

Yesterday I was in my first triathlon! The tri consisted of 1/2 mile swim, 18 mile bike, and 3.2 mile run. I was inspired/compelled to participate when my dear friend of 30+years let me know this is something she wanted to do and asked for support. She trained hard and smart for over 3 months and I am so proud of her accomplishment. It was an all-women's event and the energy was so great. It was a beautiful day - well, if you can call it day as it was pitch-black night when we woke at 4 am, left the house at 4:30 and set up our transition stations a little after 5. It was dark until about 10 minutes before we got in the water at 7 am. I watched a brilliant full moon set and the sun rise as we swam. It was cool on the road for the bike and then the run was under a tree-covered trail. You could not have asked for better weather and, again, the energy among the women was fabulous. Of course, it was the greatest delight to be there with my dear friend as she was achieving a long-held and hard-won goal and I was covered with goose bumps as we crossed the finish line together. It's obvious she has caught the tri bug because right after it she was planning how she could make it better next time. I have no such thoughts - I love to run and swim, but I borrowed a bike for the race and really don't love it enough to justify the expense of a road bike. I realized, though, that I miss running marathons more than I thought and I expect another one in my not-so-distant future...in the meantime I will bask in the glory of finishing a very satisfying triathlon.

Before the race:



During the race (after the swim and bike):



After the race (check out how radiant my friend - in the middle - is!):