Back in 2008, Tim and I raced the Ironman World Championship for the first time. It was a big deal for us not just because it was the World Championship, but because was going to be my very first ironman race distance and my first marathon ever! And for Tim, it was going to be the first time a professional triathlete born and raised in Hawaii was going to line up with the best triathletes in the world at the most prestigious triathlon race on Earth. So it was in every single way very special!
However, during our preparation leading to ironman, we never felt overwhelmed or pressure, actually, qualifying for this race just gave us a great excuse to swim, bike and run even more. Our training days were fun, hard, long and full of support from each other. We both felt we were training to be part of an incredible adventure, so our approach was “enjoy every second of it!”
On race morning I woke up dancing and jumping, I was so so excited that the day finally came! But Tim was quite and concentrated, and I could feel he was more emotional than I was for the day ahead of us. Everything about that morning was so intense, and special. I wanted to make sure that I was present for every single moment. We walked together to the beach, where thousands of athletes were getting ready to start a long day of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles bike, and 26.2 mile run.
I could feel that Tim was anxious to get in the water to warm up. So we hugged for a couple seconds and wished each other a “wonderful day”. And that was the first time I felt overwhelmed and then out of nowhere I started to cry. It was going to be a very special day.
And it was! Tim finished 15th overall (amazing!!!), and I finished 6th in my age group in 10hrs and 48min (not bad for a rookie).
A few weeks after the race a friend told me about a cute picture she saw of me and Tim on the beach just before the start of the race. She said it was taken by a professional photographer. When I saw the photo I could not believe my eyes! I couldn’t believe someone, actually a professional photographer, saw and captured that short emotional moment. It was so short and quick but will now be with us for a lifetime.
Thank you Larry Rosa “a picture is worth a thousands words…”
