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!
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