Triathlons are Hard

Some people ask me why I pay to swim, bike, run/torture myself. Well, have you ever crossed the finish line? You realize that for months you trained, for months you sacrificed hours and sleep to push it just a little bit harder. And then on race day, you give it everything you have. I mean, you have to dig deep. Your mind has to say "go faster" when your body is pleading with you to stop. You conquered mountains, you conquered freezing water and a kick to the face, you conquered that big girl (in a nice way) who kept passing you. More than anything, you conquered yourself. You did it.

So, I finished. A mile swim, a 24-mile bike ride, a 6-mile run. I took third in an age group of four, but I was just four minutes back from the winner. 3 hours, 17 minutes. My goal was 3:30. The hardest part was the bike - like seven straight miles of hills and headwind.

Afterwards we got a shake and hamburgers from Dairy Keen. I would have eaten two shakes - no remorse.