We were registered for the Olympic distance with another friend but she called us on the morning of the race to say that she had been sick all night. Marilyn and I went to the race anyway. We switched into the sprint distance event and tried to recruit a runner for our team to replace our missing friend. Alas, we had no takers. Then we got the sudden idea that I would do the swim and Marilyn would do the bike as planned and then we would both walk the run together so that we could finish (Marilyn is injured, too, and can't run).
The air was very cold on race morning but the water felt warm and wonderful. I very much enjoyed the swim. When I finished, I handed the timing chip off to Marilyn and she set out on the bike. When she came back, we both went out for the run. We walked at a moderate pace and enjoyed the sunny day, which had warmed up quite a bit since the race start. Our goal was just to bring the timing chip back to the finish line so we didn't stress at all about our speed. Some of our friends thought it was really cool that we decided to do that. We joked that it took two of us to replace our sick runner. One young guy who was volunteering said to us that he hoped he'd be as active as we were at "our age"! We said, "We're injured Ironmen, not sweet old ladies!" Seriously!
This was a great day. We were pleased with ourselves for getting the race done despite our injuries and missing teammate. We were happy to be there, to be part of the race, to see our friends. It was my first race since 2013 and it felt just great to feel the race atmosphere again.
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