I ALMOST DIED

Okay that might be a little dramatic.

Over the weekend I did my first post-pregnancy half-ironman, the Eagleman, in Cambridge, Maryland. My friend Jen flew out from Portland, Oregon to also do the race. For her this was part of her training plan leading up to doing a full ironman in Wisconsin in September.

For those who don't know, a half-ironman consists of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. It was my post-pregnancy goal for getting back in shape, and I really just wanted to finish it with dignity. I did train for it, but it is really hard to get distance training in when you are balancing many new life changes. I knew I could finish the race, but wasn't prepared for the unexpected. On race day the heat index was 104 degrees with humidity in the 90s. YIKES!

Let's just say that I did finish the race and was doing okay until I hit a wall at mile eight on the run. I literally was running and came to a screeching stop. From then on it was a slow walk. But was least I didn't DNF and was able to run across the finish line. I felt a little better when I heard that out of 2100 racers, 600 didn't show up and 10% didn't finish. But I think from now on I'm going to stick to the shorter triathlons, at least for this season. I need to work on speed anyway.

Jen did come back with me to Chambersburg, but just for a short visit. But we did have enough time to get in lunch at the Big Oak Cafe. Really this is the only place to take people in Chambersburg. But she did love it, so all was good. :)