So I did my triathlon yesterday! Yep, .5 mile swim, 12 mile bike, 4 mile run, more or less… and I’ve never been prouder of myself in my entire life. I wasn’t thrilled with how I swam, simply because I was slow and didn’t keep up a good solid stroke, I kept pausing to breaststroke when I should’ve pushed on – but it turns out I made pretty good time anyway, and besides, I FINISHED it and jogged on to my next leg. The bike went well, and near the end there was a hill that literally almost made me puke/stop/cry/collapse it was so hard, but I managed to get up and over it, and I later saw that many people had gotten off and walked their bikes up it, so I was incredibly proud to have pushed through it. And the run I did pretty slowly, but I did not stop jogging the entire time, even through the six big hills I had to tackle on the course, and I also ran a longer distance than I’ve ever run before at once (at least that I’ve ever measured). My whole goal for this event was to finish it without stopping, and I managed to do that despite being drastically under-trained, so I was incredibly proud of that.
And it was such an inspiring experience – not only were there special legs of the event that were specifically for women who had been affected by ovarian cancer, be they survivors or supporters (the race was a benefit for ovarian cancer research), but just the general level of support, enthusiasm, and encouragement from volunteers, fellow athletes, friends and family blew my mind. People were cheering all along the course, urging us along, and other athletes would commend me on having done a good job (and me likewise to them) during tough spots where we were crossing paths. It was so moving, and I was pushing myself so much harder than I’ve ever pushed myself before, that I was literally near tears every time I exchanged inspirational words like that. That, and I’m a huge sap, and there was almost no oxygen going to my brain. But seriously, I have never had a more awesome, amazing, inspirational time in my life.
And now I am unable to use my hips or knees. Driving to work today was painful because of my stiff clutch pedal, and I seriously almost crawled up the stairs to my bedroom last night. And this is to say NOTHING of my muscles; I’m just talking about joint pain here. I don’t know how long it’ll take me to go back to feeling normal, but it was absolutely worth it.
And a big shout out to my amazing roommate who came in SECOND overall! Go Karin!