Oh Canada.  What an experience.  I had a fabulous swim, a bit faster than my swim at Coeur d’Alene.  Then I got on the bike, hoping to improve my time by about an hour from Coeur d’Alene.  That didn’t happen.  I faced rain and painful winds and hills that felt much larger and longer than they originally looked.  But I did make the 5:30 cutoff by about 20 minutes.  Thank goodness!  Then it came time for the run.  This particular run was heavy on the walking side.  I struggled with nutrition on the run and ended up not eating anything the last three hours.  So I was depleted, but I continued to put one foot in front of the other, walking a lot and jogging when I could, and eventually, I crossed the finish line.  It was 11:52 pm when I did, so I finished in official time with only 8 minutes to spare.  That was close!  Too close, if you ask me.  But it was still a thrill to cross that line and remind myself that there isn’t anything I can’t do.  Everything is within reach if I put my mind to it!

So now, I’m putting my mind to St. George.  I have to ride all winter, multiple times a week, if I want to finish St. George.  It’s a challenging bike ride, and my body needs to be up to the task so that I finish the ride with plenty of time to tackle the challenging run course.  Twenty minutes before cutoff will not do.  I need at least an hour.  So friends, join me on the bike this winter.  That’s where you’ll find me.  Oh St. George.

Oh, and please feel free to call me a two-time Ironman.  I like the sound of that!