It is almost a year since my Mother passed away and I just completed a half iron distance triathlon last weekend. It was a tough, touch course primarily because of the wind and boredom of the run course. But, I had to smile, because I could almost hear my mom cheering at me. The funny thing was, as soon as I talked to my sister she said the same thing. I spent a lot of time on that race thinking of my mom yelling at me to move it...The swim was long and choppy, so it was a tedious swim, but all the time I could just hear my mom saying "Just Keep Swimming" from Nemo and "Go Racy Tracy", the nick name she used to call me and how it would make me cringe. Funny, now it makes me smile. I'm so glad for the memories and presence she had in my life. It got me through the run, I recited the Lords Prayer and Philippians 4:13 over and over in my head to account for a run/walk interval on the boring windy 4 mile long causeway, we had to run across 2 times (8 miles) of our 13.1 mile run.
This was a perfect training day for Arizona. It was terribly windy, choppy, and crowded on the swim, even though it was a small event. It gave me confidence going into Arizona. Even though it was the slowest swim I've ever done for a triathlon, It was a total success. I kept it slow and steady, used breast stroke to sight over the waves and to avoid swallowing water. I didn't breast stroke to much, but it was more than I've ever done in a race. I just kept thinking slow and steady, get through this but keep it strong. I came out of the water in 15th place overall with about 680 participants!! That just goes to show you how hard the swim was, so I was very pleased about that.
The bike was just HARD. There were traffic interruptions, and confusing turns. Two participants were hit by motor vehicles on the course!! Fortunately neither of them were hurt seriously. There was a long slow uphill that lasted for eternity and we had to ride this part four times because it was a 4 loop course. Anyways, a strong headwind! I just dropped the gears down and took my time spinning up the hill. I was so happy I played it smart. Overall I had an excellent bike!
I thought nothing could be worse than the bike, that is until I hit the run! My lack of transition training and pure laziness showed! My legs felt like butter, for the first mile, and then we hit the causeway...solid, gusting, sidewinds for 8 miles total, it was awful, but I stuck to my guns and knew that God gave me a talent that was going to get me to the end, and it did. First place masters division and 3rd place woman overall with a time of 5:38. Only some 20 something women beat me!! Here is a picture of my finish and winner's plaque:
I thought I had lost my path over the last several months, but this event showed me I hadn't lost my path, I just didn't know where I was going because I was in God's arms, just like the poem Footprints tells us....it is during our toughest and lowest points that God carries us, only we don't see it until we stop and look at the footprints of our life.
Happy racing and blessings to you all!!
