"It's a celebration of all the hard work you've put in."

"It's a celebration of all the hard work you've put in."

A fellow triathlete shared this bit of wisdom with me yesterday morning as we stood around preparing for the first part of the Half Ironman.

I never learned his name nor saw him again, but those words rang in my ears all day long.

We had already put in countless hours of work and dedication and the race...

The race, that was the fun part.

This very simple conversation helped set the tone for my race yesterday.

I had already done all the hard work. That was behind me. Race day was a day to celebrate because I had already accomplished so much.

Unlike other races in the past, there was no point in which I thought about quitting. There were plenty of moments of exhaustion, but each time my body felt ready to give up, I sent myself love. Reminded myself that I could do this and then I cheered on a fellow athlete. I knew that if I was feeling tired, they certainly were too and who doesn't need a little encouragement??

I am so proud of what I was able to accomplish this past weekend. Even though I was certainly not the fastest, I was plenty of an inspiration for those around me, especially my children.

These last 3 months of training, showed me I can do really hard stuff and not die- LOL!!

Thank you to all those who supported me along the way!!