Amber Smith, June- Complete an Olympic Length Triathlon

Completely this goal is definitely bucket-list worthy!  I've done two sprint distance tri's, both with Nora.  When I got my road bike earlier this year, I told myself this was the year to challenge myself and bump it up to an Olympic triathlon- double the distance of everything.  
Here are the event details:
1 mile open water swim
25 mile bike ride (with what the race described as "challenging climbs")
6.5 mile run

I'll admit- I chickened out in May at registration for the Daybreak Tri and only signed up for the sprint distance.  I had plenty of excuses for why I wasn't ready for the distance in June- the furthest I'd trained on my biked was only 26 miles, I hadn't run more than 4 mores since October, I hadn't done enough block training (one sport followed immediately by another), I didn't have a wet suit for the longer swim, etc.  Luckily my husband and a good friend kept telling me I could do it.  I also realized I'd regret it on race day if I didn't give it a try.

So I decided if I could change my registration, I'd go for the Olympic!  Things kept falling into place- I contacted the race director and all I had to do to change my distance was tell them at packet pick-up the night before the race.  I was planning to rent a wet suit for the longer distance/ time in the water, and I found a used wet-suit to buy for less then the cost of renting one for the day!  And my husband was very supportive of the last-minute extra training sessions, taking care of the kids and even biking the course with me the week of the race.

I felt great the morning of the race.  I love triathlons because I get to start with my favorite thing- swimming!  I felt amazing on the swim and all warmed up for the bike.  I felt fast on the bike and everything seemed to be going so well.  When I got to the transition area after the bike, I thought I could make it through the run without taking my second energy gu.  Big mistake!  Only 1 mile into the run I started to feel sluggish and hungry!  I really regretted not getting the gu.  But I didn't give up!  I pushed myself to keep running even if it was slower than the pace I wanted.  I couldn't let my family see me walking!  I crossed the finish line running and felt so happy I had completed this distance.

And the results:
Time- 2 hr 55 min
5th place in my age group
12th overall
2nd fastest women's swim time!  (I'm proud of this one!)