Before getting into the race details I must say that sporting the MultiSport Ministries Race kit now for the 2nd straight event has been enlightening. Just by wearing the kit I am engaged by people with many questions and connection opportunities that I would not be having otherwise. It's been a true blessing to offer support for others as an outcome of being part of this sport.
So ... for the race day I first have to say that I feel very blessed to have ended up in 2nd place in Division after having what I can only describe as a pretty rough day. It all started out about 20 minutes before the gun kicked off when the wind really began to kick up and the looking out over the lake all one could see was whitecaps and wind waves. I should have known. The buoys were moving in the water and the first turn kept moving further out as the less speedy (read me) swimmers were making their way toward it. After the turn we headed straight into the wind and waves and let's just say that enough about the swim as the organizers began to rescue and pull people from the water. Fortunately all were safely accounted for. The average swim times were about 13-15 minutes slower than last year and mine was about 20 minutes slower.
Fortunately I finally got to move on to the bike leg where there were many desperate souls out there requiring encouragement as the winds had kicked up to 30 mph gusts with the first 35 miles either block head wind or pretty vicious cross winds. I felt very blessed to be in my personal comfort zone on the bike even if the average speeds were quite a bit slower than a year ago. I felt pretty good on the bike overall considering the extra energy spent in the swim but realized it was a much different ride when with almost 4 miles left of the 56 mile bike I was already passing the time elapsed during last year's entire bike leg on the same course.
Got off the bike and began the rolling hilly run starting to feel the effects of being out there much longer than just a year earlier and really having to dig deep and remind myself that everyone, at least on this day, could use some encouragement so I set my mind on just that. I focused on wishing people well and especially talking up those I passed who were walking. When I finally reached the finish line and crossed underneath the banner I really felt a sense of accomplishment unlike many previous races. This was hard but in many ways that just made it better because the conversations afterward continued about the race team and I connected two guys to the site and gave them my info.
Keep training for His service!!!!
