DON'T EVER GIVE UP...Lake Logan 70.3

I have always been and try daily to be POSITIVE.  As all of you know I was determined to make it to the start line of this race.  I pushed myself to the limit to make it there and I am positive that all of your cheers and comments helped keep me motivated and got me there.  As most of you will remember I did this race last year as a relay because I was just not ready to tackle the swim..I did the bike/run last year so I knew how hard this course was & knew this probably wasn't the best race to do with an ac joint separation but I was determined and wanted to come back this year and do the whole thing by myself and that is exactly what I did!!!

My workouts leading up to the race were blah..I just felt sluggish and tired and just not right.  Of course, this was causing my mind to creep in and I was just excited to get away and get this party started.  I love a race/camping weekend.  Trey and I came up late Thursday afternoon & had a great dinner at a farm-to-table restaurant in Waynesville.  I had three short workouts on Friday and I felt great, I knew I was ready...some more teammates arrived on Friday afternoon.  We all went to packet pickup and then called it an early night.

RACE DAY...where I was determined to make it to & the day that makes me so nervous!!  The race started at 7:00 but with the mountain roads driving in and transition set up, it is a very early morning wake up alarm.  I slept pretty solid that night til 2:50 and then just started racing the race in my head. Got up at 3:50...cause I am not the get up and get out the door kinda girl...and we were off around 5:00.  Lake Logan always looks so eerie coming up/down the mountain and I immediately spotted the orange triangular buoy and we just kept going down the mountain and I thought my gosh we have to be there soon because that buoy looked REALLY FAR out!!  We got there is plenty of time to do all the pre-race stuff and as I was walking towards the swim start I took a moment to stand on the bridge and look out and take it all in...the sighting buoys seemed to help the triangular buoy not look so far (well, that's what I was telling myself).

Met everyone else at the swim start and it was time to wetsuit up and jump in for a short practice swim.  Joanna and I were not starting the swim together this time and that did not make me happy at all.  I was going off with the Males 50-59!  I realize there are males that can't swim very good either but for some reason this was intimidating me and I was afraid of getting kicked in the shoulder.  Just one more thing in my head to make me nervous about jumping in the lake!  I had no issues at all on the short practice swim, in fact they were announcing "clear the water" and I was still out there...ha!ha!

Sherpa Trey is a nervous wreck!

Complete concentration staring to see how far I have to swim...OMG!!

SWIM...

This is what has kept me from this distance for 2 years and I was determined to tackle this 1.2 miles today!  My plan was to stay in the back and let everyone go and try to find an open area and avoid as much contact as possible...oh and not be last!  Surprisingly enough, I was able to do that for the long trip out to the triangular buoy.   And off I go...

I was so comfortable on this swim, I have no idea what came over me.  I never once doubted that I wasn't going to make it.  I was able to swim pretty much out of the crowd until I got close to the turn around buoy and then it got a little crowded.  I looked around and noticed that I had caught up with some waves that went off before me...what is going on???  I just tried to stay focused and positive and just kept on swimming.  The trip back in was much more crowded and I was getting a little concerned about getting kicked...but I never did.  They weren't kidding when they said the temperature drops about 10 degrees when you go under the bridge....BRRR!!  It gets real shallow there as well and I remember everyone telling me to just keep swimming to the dock, don't try to walk in.  A lot of people were trying to just walk in and falling everywhere.  When I made it to the dock I heard Trey yell...don't grab her right shoulder...his voice was music to my ears.  I had MADE IT!!   Then for another added bonus a girl in a blue cap turned around and it was JOANNA!!!

If you are going to swim, this is a beautiful place to do it!

Brr...about to head under the bridge

Hey Everybody...I just swam 1.2 miles in a lake!!

Have you ever seen anyone this giddy about coming out of the water...ha!ha!  As I was running to transition I knew it was going to be a great day...I could see Joanna up ahead  and I had just conquered my fear of that swim.

BIKE...

This is a hard bike course, around 3300ft. of climbing and a not so fun climb around mile 42 that causes some people to get off their bikes and walk!

HAPPY Girl!

Hey Joanna...wait for me!

I couldn't believe it when I saw Joanna, I knew if we started this bike ride together we would be ending it together.  It was like we were on a training ride together...I think it worked out great for both of us.  I find myself a little timid on the bike now and if you know Joanna, she doesn't really like the bike at all.  So we were basically there for each other.  We had a good ride, I feel like it was paced pretty good to set us up for the dreaded hilly run.

Felt good off the bike, I knew I still had something left for this hilly run.  I loved hearing everyone cheering as I was running back into transition.  Trey was relieved to see me come in, he was starting to get a little worried because my time was slower than last year.

RUN...

I knew EXACTLY how this was gonna feel...3 miles up, back down and around the hot open field, then 3 miles up and back down but this time to the FINISH LINE!!

And OFF I go...ready to tackle the 3 miles up.  My legs felt good but my heart rate was off the charts!!!  I kept telling myself to slow down and settle in.  The first aid station is about 1.25 up the hill and I welcomed it, COLD water and COLD rags, I took one of each at all aid stations even if I didn't feel like I needed it.  I do like a double loop run course and seeing everyone's faces when they are on the downhill portion knowing how much better I will feel when I hit the 3 mile turnaround.  I hit the first turnaround and see Joanna as she was almost to the second aid station and let her know she was almost to the turnaround.  She cracked me up as she said...this is NOT fun!  I totally agreed but I knew it would be over soon.  Trey and some more friends were at the bottom of the hill waiting to cheer me on...its amazing how cheers just make you feel like a rockstar!

Heading down on the first loop!

I told my fans I would see them again in few minutes...after the dreaded trip around the hot open field.  It was so awesome to have people in different areas cheering so it wasn't too bad.

Round 2...saw Trey and told him I may have to walk a bit on this uphill and he yelled NO WALKING, you got this!  Oh shoot..I was really starting to get tired now but I knew once I made it to the top it was all downhill from there and the adrenaline would get me through that field.   I saw Joanna as she was about to make the turn into the field and her feet were hurting.  I told her to try to walk some if she needed to, I think when I said the word "walk" I thought how great that would feel right about now.  I just kept on pushing it up the hill, that turn around marker was the greatest thing I had seen all day, I knew I had it now.  I am loving life now, smiling heading back down and see our Coach coming up the hill, I'm thinking what a nice coach coming up here to cheer me in.  I almost pull my arm out of socket waving HEY COACH and she says "Oh hey, where's Joanna?"...ha!ha! Are you kidding me?  She was worried about Joanna's feet which was a nice "coachy" thing to do.  Believe me, I have given her a hard time about that one!

I am happy to say I was able to finish strong and with a great big smile on my face...I spy one HAPPY GIRL!!

I made it!!

BOOM!!

If you want it bad enough...YOU CAN ACHIEVE IT - don't ever give up!!

I love this picture, gosh this dude was/is so proud of me!

My partner in crime...AWESOME race Joanna!

Coach Rose!!

And we all know post-race makes the race day worth it!!  FUN times back at the camper...laughter is good for everybody.  Trey even got to show off his Boogey Lights!

I knew this race was going to be HARD, but I also know that hard is NOT IMPOSSIBLE.

Swim - 44:17
T1 - 3:17
Bike - 3:39:17
T2 - 1:41
Run - 1:57:13

6:25:43...I'm more than pleased.  I had no idea what to expect and wasn't sure if my shoulder was going to cooperate.  I'm not sure if I was just running on a high all day but I didn't even feel my shoulder not once.  I can feel it today a little though, I am apparently starting to come down from Cloud 9 now.

As always, thanks for your cheers!!!

Next Up:  Greenville Tri Relay - Bella & the Seventy Point Threes