I ... did ... it

Hardest ... Half-Ironman ... Ever. Well, maybe not ever, but it was difficult. We had head winds at 25-35 mph for the swim and bike. While swimming, I'd come up to breathe, and a big wave would smack me in the face. It took me 57 minutes on the swim. I had the second slowest women's time. The Snake River has a huge current that should have allowed me to do the swim in 35 minutes. Had there not been a current, I'd probably still be out in that river trying to finish. The bike was also awful. The head wind allowed me to average possibly 11 mph for the first 23 miles. On the way back, without any trouble at all, I reached as high as 32 mph. Yeah, the tail wind was awesome, but not worth the head wind. And then the run. Again, head winds and tail winds. I thought I was standing still, but I didn't turn a too bad half marathon: 2 hours 22 minutes. I really contemplated quitting many, many times. My dad was one of the helpers in the boat making sure people didn't drown. I swam up to his boat, but actually didn't get in. My total time: 7 hours 30 minutes. Slower than even Hawaii's difficult course. i just kept telling myself: the Vikingman will not beat me. I will beat it. I will be the viktor. I will be--the Vikingman!

I really do think I'm done with this distance until Lilia is old enough to watch the girls. I say that now, but this time, I think I'm sticking by it.