So this past weekend Coach Kelcey completed her first ironman. This ironman was considered a half ironman, but  boy was it a real challenge. We started in the Atlantic City Bay and did a 1.2 mile swim. That went well for me except my goggles fogged up, making it hard for me to see the course, but they did have buoys that help guide you along the way. Also, this was my first time having the opportunity to wear a wetsuit. After racing in a wetsuit, I know why people choose to wear them! First and foremost, they keep you warm and help you float fairly easily. My one complaint about a wet suit was it was a bit constricting!  However, something great about this race is they provided a section of people to help you pull off your wetsuit once you got out of the water! That was very helpful and definitely reduced the hardships of wearing a wetsuit!

The next part was a 57 mile bike out to Point Pleasant! The scenery was beautiful and this bike course had a mix of Atlantic City and the outskirts and more scenic Garden State views! Then the bike was finished and I moved on to the run! This was definitely the most challenging part of the race for me because I was having painful back spasms the whole time. I could barely run for maybe a mile or so before needing to walk. Unfortunately, I couldn't stand up correctly due to my back spasm, which made it much harder to run. I had to run and walk the whole run part of the course, but we did have the treat of running the Atlantic City Boardwalk!!!  After all the pain and agony, I tried to run through the finish line, but I just had to crawl to the end and receive my medal! They took me to the medical tent to make sure I was ok!  To me the best part of the race was the camaraderie of the people on the course; many of my fellow athletes cheered me on saying I was doing a great job. You also see a lot of special needs athletes! So that is also very inspiring! Even when I could barely walk, I had people whom I didn't know cheering me on saying I could do it! The race was a huge confidence boost for me because now I can say I'm an ironman (woman?): I completed 70.3. I pushed through the pain and did it!

I also want to thank all my supporters and the kind and thoughtful volunteers! I know without you I would have not been able to cross the finish line! So thank you for all your hard work to make this day possible!