Done and Done!!!!!

Well I guess I am officially a triathlete. I finished the triathlon in just over four hours, which is what I expected, and I felt relatively good, had a fantastic time, and made some friends along the route and was surrounded by the most important people in my life.
The weekend started yesterday by testing out the not so 60 degree lake water. It was not as bad as I thought however my knee was not cooperating in the wet suit so I decided to cut the knee out even more. Thankfully that helped. After our practice we got to the hotels and got ready for our pasta party. It is that oh so fabulous time of carbo loading and doing it guilt free. Being Italian I have NEVER understood why anyone would cut this out of their diets, but I still like to indulge every now and then. Especially since I no longer get Nana's pasta on Sunday. Anyhoo the pasta party was inspirational as always, we got to meet our NH and RI teammates and coaches, and one of the members from RI spoke about how his two children were both diagnosed with Leukemia. He was expressing how important it is to continue our work, since the likelihood of his children having children who become infected with this is probable. When the dinner was almost done, our coordinator got back up to the podium and gave me a personal shout out. It was very touching and just made my weekend. I was thanked by the society for raising close to $50,000 in just four years. It was really nice to be recognized, and definately made me choke up a bit. Little do they know that my personal goal is $100,000. That would just make my life, and when I get there, I promise I will stop.
We had to leave the guys in the bar watching the Sox game and head to bed since we had to be up at 4:30. It is a good thing that I am an early riser.
We made it to Wellington Park at 6am, and it was already full so we had to trek about a mile with all our stuff to get to the start. There we were marked with permanent marker, and had to set up our transition area. You basically have to fit all your stuff on half of a small towel. There my dad and Apple met me and just after I wiggled into my suit, Brian showed up.
The start was very exciting, there were about 100 or more girls and we were jamming to Cyndi Lauper (why not Debbie Gibson????!?!) and soon we were swimming like little fishies. I ended up getting scolded by a kayaker on the far right of the course, despite starting way way left. So I was way off course so that took a bit of energy to get back on track, but it was my fault because I forgot to look up to see where I was. Any hoo that was fine and dandy til the damn cougars who started behind us started throwing elbows to get by me. I was getting pretty aggravated and decided to go back over to the side to let the super fast people go by. I finished the swim in 39 minutes, not too bad considering. Then it was out of the water and onto the stripping board where I was stripped of my wet suit by a high school kid. Pretty funny. There I threw on my bike stuff and took off running to the bike course and OH MY GOD!!!
People were not exaggerating when they were explaining the hilly course. It was almost comical. Despite that, I only had to dismount once because the hill was so steep that I started to go backwards, no joke. Then I dismounted another 4 times to pee, no shocker there. Had to go on the road once, and then asked the nice residents of NH if I could use their bathroom. Hey at least I offered up my place in Medford if they were ever in the area. Anyhoo I made it up some killer hills that I swore must have gone all the way up to Canada. I was pretty proud of myself when I finished that because I was super nervous about it. Off the bike I went and had to go running. Yes, HAD to go running. I really could have done without the run on account of my quads being so done with me and giving me a constant charlie horse, and then there was the pesky throwing up in my mouth about 10 or more times. I had to consume so many GU packs that it tore up my stomach, as well as the gatorade they were serving up. So I ran as much as I could but then when I ran into some nice girls we decided to walk and chat it up instead. I was fine with that. But eventually I just wanted to be done. Apple walked backwards on the route to find me so I saw her and then decided to step it up and run the rest of the way. I was not last. That is all I can say. Heather and Kim were there to cheer me on to the finish and I got my annual picture kissing my medal. It was a great day and I can't wait to do another one. For now though, I am going to help out the San Francisco and Dublin Marathon teams, for I know about 5 people doing it with the TEAM. I may or may not run the half out there with them in San Francisco, but I will not be fundraising, I would just do it for fun.
That is all for now. Once I get some rest tonight I will post my pictures from the race. Brian was a little photog with my digital so he got some good pics.
Time to eat the food!!!!
I cannot end this post without thanking all of my supporters. Each year I am dumbfounded by the generosity of others. It means so much for me to do this and honor my mothers life. It keeps me close to her and close to this cause. That is especially helpful, even more so during this time of year. So thank you for all your past support and for your future support. We'll see what my next journey will be!!!!!!!
Love to all,
Jody