you won't know until you tri

Well, I did it. I finished the race!

It was so much fun - much more fun than I anticipated. A beautiful day, warm water (about 72 degrees), cow bells, a cheering crowd, and words of encouragement throughout each stage.

Stage 1: a half-mile swim. Surprisingly to me, this was my best event. I remember thinking

upon entering the water, "how can I be swimming so fast?" It must have been adrenaline. I set a personal best for time. I'm not saying it was easy, but I did it, and did it pretty well!

Stage 2: a 17.2 mile bike. I don't really have a good biking picture. Finished five minutes faster than I anticipated. Excellent!

Stage 3: A 4.9 mile run. Here I am getting ready to head out on the course. I was confident this

was going to be my best stage, but actually, I ended up with a weird, sharp pain in my knee about a mile in. So, it took me a little longer than I would have liked, but you can bet I ran across that finish line!

(I'm not the one on the leash. As you can see, they're going the wrong way.)

While I am relieved it is over, I am proud of myself for this accomplishment. I proved to myself that when I put my mind to something, I can really do what I set out to do. A good lesson for many areas of life, I think.

Finally, here I am with my friend Dustin - who talked me into doing this crazy race. It was the first triathlon for us both - and something neither of us thought we'd ever do. Lucky for us we have great spouses and friends who encouraged and helped us along the way. And who took us out for a well-deserved cheeseburger and beer after the race!