I did it! I can't believe it, but I did it! The triathlon was yesterday. I finished (23 minutes ahead of my goal time) and I feel great today! I even think I want to do it again next year! It was hard, but so satisfying. I feel like this is the first time in a long time that I am actually proud of myself. . .and I don't mean that in a bad way, I'm just proud of myself. I think I was proud of myself after birthing my three biological children and after getting Gabby from Africa alone and now.
The best part of the race was that Andy brought all five kids to cheer me on. . .I had the biggest cheering section at the race! I didn't think they would come for the entire race and they were there. When I rounded the corner on my bike and saw them I was so overcome with emotion that I almost wrecked! Seriously, I was crying so hard that my feet slipped off of my pedals and I almost busted. I was just so overwhelmed by what a great family I have. That was my favorite part!
The pre-race jitters were probably the worst part! I was so scared and so nervous! Last Friday, my Gran'ma emailed me and told me not to stress out about the race because she was going to stress for me. And, as crazy as that sounds, it worked! I didn't stress about the race all weekend. . .until Saturday night! I didn't sleep at all and I was so nervous that we arrive at the race an hour before registration even started! But when we registered, it was so funny because as you see, in the picture below, Jenny and my names were the two names for our registration category. . .instead of B through F, they put Braner through Freyman. It was a funny way to start the day!
The swim was great! I was in the perfect lane for me. . .three ladies much slower than me, so I started the race feeling pretty good about myself. The picture below is my HUGE nervous laugh/smile before the race actually began.
The bike was so hard, but I did it! I had never biked 12 miles in my life and I wasn't sure if the race adrenaline was going to get me through. It did! (And Jenny, the veteran triathlete even said that it was an advanced bike course because of the hills.) Below is a picture of me when I first got on my bike. . .looking not very sure about the next hour of my life and a picture of one of the amazing views from the bike route!
The run/walk was great! I ran more than I thought I would. The views (below) of town and of the mountains were breathtaking! I ran the last part and ran through the finish line (even though the picture doesn't quite capture that).
It was a fun race. The atmosphere was fun. My friend, Jenny Freyman, flew in from Little Rock to do the race with me and that was fun. My other friend, Gretchen Willis (who was the "awful" person who convinced me to do the race) was there and we got to run together for a little big.
It was great!
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