What a great race!

Well I did it! There were certainly many points throughout the past 8 months where I did not think that I would ever cross the finish line, but I discovered yesterday that with determination and the right sort of help and support anything is possible.
I managed to overcome my fear of deep water and finished the 2K swim within the required time and much to my surprise did not come in last for a change! The day was off to a great start. I took my time in transition getting ready for my bike and set off to face the challenge of a hilly but wonderful ride. Much to my surprise even the Cochrane hill went smoothly and was much less of a challenge than I expected. Once I arrived at north Glenmore park I was feeling great. I had finished two out of the three events and nothing was going to stop me from hitting the finish line now. I started out too fast on the run but forced myself to slow down. It was at this point I felt the heat. Thankfully there were many wonderful volunteers with lots of water and sponges and I was easily able to keep my pace throughout. I still had energy left at the end which probably means I should have pushed harder but I wanted to have enough energy left over that I could enjoy the moment of crossing the finish line as well. Overall it was a perfect day! It was great to see Amy and Marc along with some of the tri-club members out there, everyone was giving it there best shot which was great to see! I have to thank a number of people as there is no way I could have accomplished such a feat on my own, but they know who there are.
What is next is the question I keep getting asked. I will not be doing another 1/2 ironman at least until both kids are in school full time, but that just gives me a couple of years to work on becoming more comfortable in the water. In the short term I'll probably focus on my running a little more as I am hoping to do Boston in the spring. Thank you to everyone for all your encouragement and support, it truely has been an amazing experience, one I will not forget any time soon!