51.5 K.........check!!

 I can't believe that the big day came and went. Since it was local, I got to sleep in my bed and have a relaxing morning and move at a comfy pace. I really didn't even feel that nervous until we pulled into the parking lot. Once we got there, we racked our bikes, set up our transitions, and squeezed into our wet suits.

 This group of gals are AMAZING. All of them are moms of many children. They have each completed many triathlons. Wendy has done and Ironman, Linda has done a 1/2 Ironman. I got to train with them once and I felt like such a wimp. It was so fun to see them whip by me during the race.

I was especially happy to have my mom there. She is fun and always has lots of energy and questions. She kept telling me that she had been asking around and I was supposed to make sure to drink water......okay, thanks mom ;)

Jason and the kids were also there. That made me feel so tender. I really wanted them to see me race.

So there were 3 waves of men. White, green, and red caps. Then came the pink caps women under 35. So it was me and the 20 year olds. They smoked me!!! Behind me was the orange caps 36+ so once I started swimming all but a few pink caps disappeared. All of a sudden I caught some red caps and I was feeling quite puffed up. I was a bit too proud and right as I was on the home stretch of the swim, along came a bunch of orange caps. Eh! The lake was super low so it was quite a ways to transition. I had a quick transition and was off on the bike. The bike course was awesome. Aside from the dangerous crossing over Auburn Folsom twice, it was great. The course went right by my house so J and kids waiting and cheered for me and gave me a fresh cold water bottle. It totally lifted my spirits to see them. Our friends were at the top of the highest climb of the ride which was a fun surprise. At about mile 24.8 miles later, I was ready to run. Or so I thought. Once I got to T2, I swear the temperature jumped up to 90 degrees. It was a really tough 6.2 miles. It took me forever to run. There was a ton of steep ups and downs on the trail where if you ran, you would probably fall, so I HAD to walk. I was so worried about dehydration and hitting a wall, that I Gu-ed a bunch, and drank a lot of Cytomax. Once I started running, I realized that not only was I hydrated, I was water logged. I had to pee for at least 1/2 the time. I was so so so thankful when I saw 5 mile marker, but that last mile took FOREVER.

I was so pleased to be done. I grabbed my post race meal and went to soak in the cold lake water. I ended up very happy with my time and finished about when I thought I would. I thought I might be about 15 minutes faster. But considering the heat, I'm happy with my finish. And plus, my only real goal was actually finishing.

                                           1 mile swim+ 24.8 mile ride+ 6.2 mile run= 3:43

Now that this race is marked off the bucket list. I'm considering doing the Women's Festival in September and maybe the Team Challenge with some friends. Any one? Any one?