Much like my first Tri, when I added this to the 52 week list I have no idea what made me think I’d actually be able to take a photo that day! I think in my mind I was expecting to have time to take photos of other folks in the pool, or maybe some details in the transition area. I have no idea what I was thinking really because I’d never done a triathlon before! So, once again, photo credit goes to the hubs for this capture.
This last weekend I participated in the Take Flight Triathlon and WOW it kicked my butt! This is the description of the bike portion straight off the event website: “The 10 mile bike course for the Take Flight Triathlon is a one-loop design through the rolling hills of Highland Creek and the surrounding area. The course is best described as moderately hilly (there are two decent hills), but the resulting times will be fast for proficient peddlers.” I think if I were writing this description it would’ve been something more like “The hills on this course are continuous, don’t expect a break. They are hellacious and you will have nightmares of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro for weeks after this race.” The words “rolling hills” and “decent” made me think of picturesque farm land with cattle waving as I drove by. This was, in fact, not the case. Kicked. My. Butt. At the top of the 2nd hill as I was gasping for air the cop directing traffic said “You got this baby – it’s all down hill from here.” Well, she lied. And every single hill I climbed after that made me want to go back to mile #1 and tell her that it’s not nice to lie to someone trying to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.
After that bike route, the run was a struggle. I’m not a runner, so lack of oxygen and even more hills played a huge role in my overall time. But here’s the cool part – I’ve mentioned before that I started this journey through Tri it For Life - well I was wearing my TIFL t-shirt when I got to the race and another athlete was wearing hers so we started chatting. Every time she saw me or passed me
in the race she encouraged me. ”You go Kelli, you got this!” She finished the race at least 20 minutes before me and then went back up to the top of the last hill of the run to wait on me. When she saw me turn the corner she started yelling and cheering me on. When I got to the top of the hill she ran beside me all the way to the finish line, encouraging me the whole way. That smile you see on my face is because Marcella was running next to me and the best husband in the world was screaming my name and waving his arms furiously from the finish line. And that’s why I tri. This isn’t something I could do by myself, and as much as I might think that whenever the day begins, by the end of the race I’m reminded of how blessed I am to have good health and friends that support me along the way.
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