What a day!

We had an awesome day out there yesterday in the New York City Triathlon! Despite the early-morning wakeup call (4:30...ugh!) and stress in getting up to the start amidst bumper-to-bumper traffic, all was fabulous once I dove into the swift-moving Hudson at 6:23. Two hours, 33 minutes later, I crossed the finish line with a huge smile on my face...I was so happy to be DONE!

Some highlights:

• Bec once again claimed a spot on the podium with an awesome third-place performance in the professional race. I saw her on the bike as I was making my way out and she was careening towards transition. I cheered and got a little smile from her, even though she was definitely all-bidness!
• Karl also got a taste of the podium with her third-place finish in the elite amateur division!
  She even beat some of the pros--unbelieveable!
• John had a great day; his bike split was among the men's fastest!
• Mark did AMAZING, dropping five minutes from his 2006 finish time, including a huge improvement on his run! He looked great crossing the finish line, like he could've gone another mile or two!
• And finally, I was convinced my race was ruined when I made the biggest rookie mistake EVER (grabbing the wrong bike--i.e., not MINE--out of transition, I didn't realize my faux pas until I tried to get on and ride. I then had to scramble back to my transition area, get my bike, mount the other one, and get going!). But I held on for a faster bike ride and a run than last year to improve my time by just under three minutes. Of course, I would have loved to go faster, but I was hurting out there and just told myself that I was in it to finish...and that, I did.
  

Thanks to all of the support we had along the course...Mr. & Mrs. Flynn, our 'rents, Bubba & Mario, Leezie, Keren, Annick, Joanne, and more! They got up super-early to watch us out there, and it definitely made a difference. (And thanks to Leezie for all of these pics!)