hi all!
i know i've been hush-hush about this, b/c i've been so nervous...but at 4 minutes to midnight saturday night, i became an ironman hawaii world championship finisher :)
it is not everyday that an average person like myself gets to be in a world championship for anything...but i won a coveted lottery slot to participate in the event, so i trained hard this summer and went to kona to do it...and i miraculously finished!!
it was great...and hard...and a very, **very** long day. my official time to complete the race was 16:55:46. almost the full 17 hours allowed...my slowest ironman yet -- but i did not and still absolutely do not care. :) there were only 6 of us left on the course, and only 5 of us finished officially...with less than 5 minutes to spare. so, i am truly just grateful i was one of those final 5 to finish!!
the race's legendary heat and winds were said to be worse than usual, and had me worried i might not even make the bike cutoff. there were times where i was working hard just to pedal downhill! and then by the time the run came, it was more like a 26.2 mile speed walk and shuffle than a run. but i just kept saying to myself "never, never, never give up" -- even though some moments i really wanted to.
i'm still quite sore and tired, but i'm bending down and going up and down stairs with greater ease each day! accomplishing this and feeling the joy of running down alii drive towards those big lights and finish line makes it totally bearable :)
i attached my new favorite photo. the girl behind me is joanna, we met during the marathon portion of the event. in true ironman spirit, for more than 6 hours, we stuck together to the very end, motivating one another to keeping going and finish before the cutoff.
thank you all for your support that day...undoubtedly i had angels and good vibes on my side all day long!!
love,
tania...currently ranked #1630 in the world at the ironman distance ;)
Editor's note: In case you are wondering, an Ironman competition is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, followed by a marathon (26.2 miles).
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