I wish I had pictures to share with but all I have for now is the self portrait I took (see profile pic) in the transition area waiting for my swim time to start. Once the race posts some pics/results I will have more information to share but for now I can you tell I just completed my first Sprint Triathlon and I am officially a Triathlete!!!

I am so darn proud of myself and considering where I was a year ago health wise it is an amazing transition. I won't bore you with all my health stuff but a year ago I started walking, dropped a bunch of weight (don't let anyone tell you that you can't lose from walking), hit the gym in January, started a C25K program, dropped another 20 in 4 months, did a 5k in March and signed up for this thing a week later.

I had a borrowed bike that I used today, the chain came off 3x during the race, and I fixed it myself all 3 times. The final time it was so badly wedged in there I almost gave up. I persevered and got it back on. I lost probably 20 minutes on my finish time but I did finish.

It wasn't pretty, it wasn't perfect, but I was passionate about completing this race. When I was done my kids told me I had grease all over my face, never mind all over my hands and fingers but I didn't care.

I was blessed to have a cheering section of my kids (and a huge volunteer group who were awesome) there from bike transition to run transition. My son came to meet me for the final 1/2 mile walk/run to the finish line. Lynchburg, Va is known as the Hill City so there was no shame in my game walking some of that steep climb. My son stayed with me the entire time. So blessed.