On Saturday, July 12th, I did the Echo Lake Triathlon Olympic distance. The family didn't make the trip with me this time. I was going to go the day before and spend the night in the car, but I opted to just get up early and head out. It was a fun day. This Olympic distance race was 1500 meter swim, 26 miles on the bike and 6.1 miles on the run. The athletes were a lot better than the last Olympic I did. Their times were pretty fast. I finished at about 2 hours and 40 minutes where the age group winner finished at just over 2 hours. So, I keep telling myself that these things are all about the journey and not necessarily the medals or other superfluous things that go along with them. And, as I've gotten a little older...and not so anal, I've come to realize that it is just about the journey and enjoying myself. I'm not out to kill myself now and it really doesn't matter in the big picture if I finish a half hour later than expected or anything like that. I'm just grateful God has given me the chance to do something with all that He has given me. I think these triathlons are just a way of me expressing my gratitude to God for this life and that I want to show him just how grateful I am for the body he has given me.
Something that was really neat in this event was something I saw at the beginning. TriUtah, the holder of the event, had a handicap group. This group went first before all of the athletes. It was so touching to see adults pull handicapped kids on rafts for the swim. There were about 5 of these handicapped children that got towed behind a swimmer. As these people came in, everyone of them was welcomed with cheers and admiration. It was so neat to see the respect and love and warmth all of the athletes showed for these handicapped children. These handicapped children all went on to be pulled behind on a bike and then later on the run. I only saw the swim portion of their events, but I had to fight back the tears as I witnessed their overcoming of a challenging event. I could also only imagine how tough it would be to swim the distance pulling someone behind me on a raft! Wow, I had so much respect for those swimmers as well
I haven't seen these pics until now. you are so dang sexy!! you look more relaxed and like you are really enjoying this event. I'm glad you are having fun and hope you can continue events like this for many, many years;) love you babe!
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