There is so much to write about and I just don't know if I waited too long to remember every detail...EEK!!
I may be the worst blogger ever, I think most would agree if they looked at my other blog I abandoned about fishing....I have every intention of keeping up with it but my time is so limited. This year I gave up TV altogether cause I just couldn't keep up even with one show. Really need to focus on Lavaman not babble..
Here goes:
When I started this journey nothing seemed achievable. Being able to fund raise $4500, train to be able to complete an Olympic distance triathlon, even getting the time off work proved near impossible. Well I truly found that what is humanly impossible is possible with God. I have committed my life to God and I gave this over to Him from day one. I believed this was all part of His plan for my life. I can tell you He prepared me for this AND saw me through it. All glory definitely goes to Him as I was truly carried by Him.
OK so fundraising proved to be like putting on an old hat. I use to be the planner, go getter & stop at nothing to finish my task. Although in the past I was stop at nothing until I am #1 best numero uno. Luckily my time as single mom cured me of that and I was content to finish my goal. I can see how I could have run myself into the ground trying to be the top fundraiser rock star champion of all time. I think my heart wouldn't let me make this about me and I really kept the point of it being about my brother. I am continuing on with TNT and keeping the fundraising going but I'm so thrilled to be a part of the fight against leukemia in my brother's memory. Did I write about the day I finished fundraising? I am never going to get to the race HAHA...I had put a goal for myself over a month out from when the actual deadline was. I do not like last minute stress. Also there was a team incentive to finish by Feb 9th. That was my goal...I was hitting facebook hard with daily updates how close I was to my goal. People were helping so much daily! It was a good feeling knowing I was inching closer and closer. I fell short of my Feb 9th deadline. I had 3 dreams that week about finishing my fundraising. Thought about it constantly what it is going to be like. When the moment would happen, how it would happen....
I had a really good day on 2/13 don't remember what it was but I remember posting how great it was and if I could just finish my fundraising HINT HINT...the comment posted was "done". Then a note on my wall for you and your brother...$165 donation got me there on Valentines Day. A very generous person who I know strictly through our shared passion for fishing and facebook. God never stops knocking my socks off. Yes making the Feb 9th deadline would be cool but a sweet kiss on the cheek from the Lord on Valentines day :) Even better!!! I was walking out of gym when I got the email/posts. I started crying! It felt amazing!!!
I think that moment and the other accomplishments during the season are more than even the race. I think the race really is just marshmallow fluff. The journey there was life changing more so then I think the race could be....or not I gotta write about it!!!!
So the day finally came to leave for Kona! I finally got the time off work and Deana took me to the airport. Some teammates were also on the same flights so that made the trip all the more fun. Arriving in Hawaii was sooooo exciting. I was one of the only ones who hadn't done this before so I was taking pictures like crazy (dork over here hehe). After waiting FOREVER for the rental car we got to the resort we were staying. There is no way to describe this place. It is like a destination in itself! Amazing breathtaking overwhelming! I had a lot of bouncing around to do so the first night I was couching it with a friend until my room was available for the weekend. I headed into Kona to meet up with the team for the first scheduled activity we swam at the ironman swim start. How cool to be there right were the ironman world championships are. I could totally imagine it. Especially from watching it on TV. Then we met up at Kona brew co turns out my guide book was right BEST PIZZA mmmmmmm.
The next day I woke up on CA time. Luckily a friend was also up and we went for a walk. I had not checked out to much of the resort so this was neat. It was still dark out when we started. As the sun came up we made our way on a part of the run course. All around this part of the island people take white rocks and write stuff out on the black lava. She decided this was a good time to write out a few things for the race. She wrote GO TEAM and Skip for a fellow teammate who lost his battle with leukemia just over a year ago. I decided to write my brother's name. As I crouched down to grab the rocks and coral to spell out his name my senses all went crazy. It was like my sense of hearing went away and there was no sound, my vision blurred and my sense of touch heightened. The groves and pattern in the coral seemed to be the only thing I could sense really. As I laid each one down images of my brother and his life flashed in my mind. The photographs and memories played vividly with each placing of a stone. My breath was taken away as tears started to fall from my eyes until they turned into uncontrollable sobs. I cried out to God & let Him have all my hurt in that moment. I was shaking and could barely finish. As I wrote his name it was like I was realizing all over again he was gone. His life ended so tragically and way too early. My heart was breaking all over again. I wanted to lash out or scream or do something but I was paralyzed in that crouched position. Suzanne was there but I didn't even look up, I just heard her in the distance saying "you can do this". I finally finished and then it was like I snapped back to reality. I had no way of knowing that was going to happen. I didn't even go with the intention of doing that but God met me there and I guess I got it all out because He knew I needed to.
After that Jodi and I headed over to A Bay where our race would be. She and I swam out and tested the waters. It was so beautiful and clear. There was coral, tropical fish and sea turtles below us. I am so glad we did this so I will be less distracted on race day! (Team plans a few swims here too but on our own we could do it at our leisure and pace). I got to try Kona coffee when we did a plantation tour. We did bike pick up in the afternoon and a run for part of the course preview. Friday was the full course preview. When we got up Friday the wind was INSANE! We did a swim in the bay and it was crazy cause the current carried us so far around. I was glad we swam day before cause the visibility was so different. Not that it is important to see the fish and coral but it was way cool!
We were supposed to go out on the bike course and do about half of it but it was soooo windy we didn't go far at all. I will tell you that being on the bike with the gusty winds like that was scary. My heart was pounding and I was very nervous about the race. I think we all were. The thought of riding 24 miles with the wind pushing you like that made a 3-4 hour finish time rise to 5-6 hours in my mind. We biked a portion of the run course and then did the last part of the run course.
Saturday morning we had the option to go on an additional race preview our sport of choice. I went back out on the bike cause I wanted to practice more in the wind. Then I went for a quick swim back at A Bay. After we had to go to pick up our race packets. I went to lunch with some friends and whatever I ate at lunch made me horribly sick! I had a few hours until the race director meeting and our inspiration dinner. I was back in my room losing my lunch with horrible stomach cramps. From experience I knew this could be laying me out for days :( I was in tears and fearing the worst. I was able to get myself out of bed and make it to the race meeting. I had the cutest dress and shoes all picked out for the inspiration dinner. I could barely get dressed and look somewhat presentable when I headed out. I am glad I made the race meeting. There was definitely some info that I did not want to miss. We headed straight into the inspiration dinner. This moment should of been so different. I believe it was supposed to be a surprise. They had all the coaches, mentors, staff lined up cheering us into dinner. Everyone passing out hugs and smiling. Inside my stomach was killing me and I faked a smile although I wanted to sob. This was another moment that was being tarnished by bad luck on this trip (the previous account will not be recorded in public forum but I had another tearful moment). I wished so bad I was in my normal mode. I would be high fiving and hugging and probably crying in joy. Instead I dodged my way through as many people as I could and plopped myself down in my chair and started crying. I was again so disappointed that I was missing out on the experience I had waited so long for, crying cause if I wasn't miraculously 100% by morning I was not going to do well in the race....or even be able to race? Where we ended up sitting was so far away I couldn't really hear the inspirational talk anyway. I at some white bread rolls, a banana, plain pasta and dry plain chicken. Bland and tasteless & a huge bummer. After dinner we headed to a small meeting room for coaches last minute instructions. This lastest way longer then I would have liked. I ended up lying on the floor with my eyes closed praying that I was able to make it through this and back to my bed SOON. Again all info that I needed to hear just so upset my stomach hurt and I was not myself.
I went to sleep praying God would take all they pain away. I took more pepto thanks to my friend Elisa for supplying me. I did feel like all the bad food I ate had left my system and I was just feeling the after effects. I slept surprisingly well for a race night. I woke up in the morning and decided my stomach felt the same as any normal race day stomach would. I wasn't sure if it was from the bad food or race day so I decided to blame it on race day guts and have an awesome day!
