i guess i'll just begin again

Sorry to keep going ON and ON about my race.
I mean, I'm not THAT sorry.
It WAS pretty amazing.
Here are the rest of the pictures I have from the event.
I can't wait for my next race!! I'm officially hooked.

Here's my walking with my awesome bike and all of my transition gear before the race begins. I love Las Vegas!

Gearing up! I was soooo nervous!! Can you tell? I borrowed the wet suit from my friend Camie. Sexy, right?

Here the nervousness almost crossed the threshold from "Butterflies" to "I think I'm going to puke." I look fly in my swim cap, though, so that's a plus!
The swim was the leg of the race that I thought I would complete the most-easily. I mean, I'm a good swimmer. What's so hard about 750 meters in a lake?
But at 7am with 1000 other racers around me as I looked out at the dark, deep lake, I had second thoughts. Then, when I got in and it was SUPER chilly, I kinda started to freak.
The swim ended up being my WORST leg. By far. Not that it took me longer than the bike or run, but I am pretty sure I was hyperventilating and breast-stroking with my head above water (instead of the freestyle I spent hours in the pool practicing!!) 90% of the swim. Not cool. But at least my next race I can't do much worse on the swim!

Next was twelve miles on my bike. K got a picture of me on my beautiful bike, but it's hideous (me, not the bike), so you don't get to see that one. The course was crazy hilly and for the first few minutes I was really struggling mentally, but I just sang "Ready to Start" by Arcade Fire to myself to keep my legs peddling and after a while frustration and fear turned to pure bliss. I don't know how else to describe it. Pretty much all I can remember is how amazing it felt once I hit the half-way peak and got to turn around and whiz down the huge hill that I had just crested on my way back to transition. I was smiling ear to ear. And singing out loud at times. But only when no one else was around. Mostly.
My bike is the best ever and I love it and we had a really great day together, me and my bike. Which I love. A lot.

The last leg is the run; 3.1 miles. The first mile of the course was desert and rocks and holes and insanity! I couldn't believe it. They definitely didn't include that little tidbit in the race info! I have never run on sand before and I'm pretty sure I thought I was going to eat it big time. But I was able to keep that blissful feeling going from my ride and stuck out the run, which turned out to be a piece of cake. I have been training on the indoor track at BYUI and doing three miles of around and around and around felt like a big accomplishment. Out in the desert it kind of just felt cathartic. That's a weird thing to say, but it's true. I sang "How Firm a Foundation" in my head on this leg (though my foundation at the moment was anything but firm. stupid rocks.) and felt so blessed to have my body and the ability to do the race and friends and family who love me and were cheering for me. If I almost had a mental breakdown on the swim then I just about had an emotional one on the run. But in a good way.

Before I shut up about this stupid race forever I just want to say thank you to all of my bloggy friends who were rooting for me. I thought about you when I was feeling discouraged or tired or fat or whatever. You helped me do this. And I'll be forever grateful. I love you guys!