I was recently a participant in the Ramlin Rose Triathlon in Winston Salem NC. I (along with 500 other women) rose before the crack of dawn, gathered my swim goggles, road bike and running shoes and headed to the Body Marking tent to get my race number Sharpied on my arms and legs. The race consisted of swimming, biking and running back to back. This was my 3rd Triathlon, but by far, the most challenging race. The swim, which I thought would be the hardest event, was actually the easiest, the run was difficult but I allowed time for that, what threw me for a loop was the biking, which is usually my strongest event. The hills of Winston Salem were no joke, one hill was affectionately dubbed “Dam Hill,” they say it’s name comes from the fact that it’s alongside a dam, but I and the 500 ladies beg to differ. :) All in all, I beat my finish time by 20mins, which was surprising and exciting.
It was an incredible experience, one I look back on and know it was well worth the long hours of training, sore muscles and countless “I think I cans.” I challenge everyone to be apart of some event that pushes you beyond what you think you can attain. A race of any kind is 60% mental 40% physical, most of the time we talk ourselves out of doing anything that requires us to throw down the gauntlet and give it everything(and I do mean everything) we’ve got. What people don’t realize is the sheer joy and exhilaration you experience as you cross that finish line, the goosebumps are there too :) When the last woman crossed the finish line at the Tri it was as if she had won the whole event- the clapping and the cheers were deafening! For most of the women there it was a race against themselves, it didn’t matter if they placed, what mattered was they finished.
Here are a couple photo’s highlighting the event:
We’re all proud of you Court! Did Tim ever tell you about the potato sack race that he participates in every year?
Scott | September 5, 2009 at 6:00 pm