Hopeful Expressions: wow.

so this sunday, august 2nd, my friend Noelle and i were to participate in a triathlon. 7 months+ of training and the day had finally arrived!
woke up at 4:00am.
tried to force down some granola
checked and double checked all of my gear for the race
got to N's house at 5:30am
away we went to Philly for the SHErox event

words cannot express the events of the day. i don't think i've experienced anything like it nor do i think i will again. (i will continue to do tri's and other races but hopefully NOT like this one! :)!)

we pulled into Philly around 6am as the skies opened up and rain came pouring down.
we took all of our stuff over to the transition areas
waiting around what seemed endlessly to hear the officials turn the tri into a dualathlon.
was i bummed? no, not really - not sure how i felt about swimming in a river that (just that morning) a man jumped into the river and could not be found! yikes. they called it due to thunderstorms approaching... really.

so needless to say, we began the race about 9:30am starting off with a run (1.5 miles).
did great on that part. no problems. no rain.

next came the bike portion. 15.8 miles. okay, but crazy accidents happening between women as the rain starts falling again ... and a little harder this time.

my brave husband, children, parents, jarvis friends and saunders friends, as well as noelle's entire family were real troopers coming out and staying out to support us through all of this!!! you guys ROCK! thank you so much!!!

lastly came the run portion... 3.5 miles. so far so good. then...oh wait a minute...what was that?!? half way through the run came the WORST TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR of rain i have ever seen with MAJOR lightning and thunder over the exact area we were running and our family/friends were watching and waiting for us.

i started praying (as i was running and wiping my eyes TRYING to see in front of me and shielding my face as best i could) "God please keep us safe and please keep my boys and family and friends safe."

runners were heading under overpasses to get out of the rain but N and i kept on keeping on. we did NOT stop. we kept going.
God was faithful to us. God gave us strength to finish the race and we did! We finished it! We were soaked and happy and tearful and worn out and exhausted and worried and thankful!

(the officials actually cancelled the rest of the race so many many other women did not get to complete the race due to the rain and major safety issues... fortunately OR maybe not... :)... we had gotten so far into the race that we got to complete it in it's entirely! i'm So thankful for that!)

noelle beat my time by 3.5 minutes (you go girl!) and was waiting for me. it was nice to finish the race with her. we have done a lot of training together so it was only appropriate to end it with her there. we both finish under 2 hours even amidst all the crazy weather! :)

best of all, my man was awesome and waiting patiently for me with an umbrella. (my p's and sons and friends all took cover - i'm so glad they did!) he was there. he was waiting for me at the finish line and that was the best and cutest face i've ever seen. best reward! he said he was proud of me and gave me a big hug. i hugged him back and just sobbed!

i finished the race.
i overcame horrific weather
i enjoyed the journey
i am looking forward to many more...

i am a triathlete!