My experience at the The Longhorn Ironman 70.3 is one I will not forget. The weekend was filled with great fellowship and encouragement to help me ease to race day and to the finish line on Sunday. It was truly a blessing to be able to participate in my first Half Ironman with several of the Tri4Him team members. Congrats to all the Tri4Him participants on your finish. And a Big congrats to Kelly, Marilyn and Tony on your first Ironman 70.3!! You guys Rocked yesterday!! Thanks to everyone for all your encouragement and support yesterday!! It was great to see you guys and several other Tri4Him team members on the run course. Race Report 1.2 Mile Swim: I took it easy in the swim portion due to how I felt in my wetsuit. Then about 200 meters from the Swim finish I had a really bad leg cramp that caused me a delay and challenged me when exiting the water and getting out of my wetsuit. I was surprised to see I finished the swim portion in 59 minutes. 56 Mile Bike: Due to the Leg cramp not letting down I took it easy on the bike portion as well but still pushed myself to stay over 13 mph to ensure I finished the bike portion under the 5 hour cut off . The Hills were brutal at some points but I overcame the challenge. I finished the bike portion in 4hrs 16min. 13.1 Mile Run: The run was the most challenging part of the race due to the leg cramp that started in the swim portion and continued to get worse. To ensure I did not irritate the cramp much more I walked the up hill inclines and ran down hill. The cramp continued to get worse so I was very challenged during the end of lap two. I was able to meet several other racers experiencing some of the challenges I was and we encouraged each other. God is good he kept me going even thru my obstacles and provided what I needed to help me pull thru and finish. Towards the last 1.5 miles in my run I looked up and my husband came and found me on the run coarse and ran the last 1.5 mile in with me. My brother met up with us and they both ran with me into the finish line shoots and that really was an emotional moment for me. I finished the run in 3:30 My total finish time was 9:00:32. I did it I finished before the cut off:)

What a great race, I am definately hooked on these longer distance races now! I came out of the water way faster than I expected, the course was clearly marked and they had more than enough staff in the water if help was needed. Bike course started off with a few crazy hills and many sharp turns. I was able to keep my pace throughout the course and finished in my expected time. The run was a little different, the hills were killer and the trail running made it difficult to keep any pace. In the end I finished never felt like I couldn't finish. In fact the entire time I was thinking I couldn't wait for Ironman! In the words of Marilyn, I think I am one of those crazy people:) It was such a great experience to share this race with my brother who had a great finish and so many of my tri4Him teammates including a few who were also doing their first half. Great race everyone!