I’m just going to go ahead and say it–quickly, humbly, and rationally: I did 2/3 of a half iron man triathlon. I swam 1.2 miles and then sipped coffee while my buddy biked the 56 miles and then I ran 13.1. It was not a pretty 13.1 miles, I’ll be honest.

“When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it’s a sure sign you’re getting old.”–Mark Twain

The first lap of the half marathon was okay. I hadn’t been training, hell, my running shoes hadn’t been out of the closet in 8 weeks! So this was a sure fire challenge. Why did I just quote Twain-y boy? Because by the second loop people were telling me how great I was looking. Now, I know that that just wasn’t true. I wasn’t sweating because I was so dehydrated, my boobs were being chaffed because I thought it was a brilliant idea to put Gu between them for quick access and safe storage, my feet had started blistering when I left the transition area–I was a mess and people were telling me I LOOKED GOOD?! No. False. They were lying.

But I didn’t stop. I had to round the corner to get to another aide station where people were dressed like cowboys! COWBOYS!!! All I could think about was seeing my Dad right before the last 100 yards. The margarita I was promised. Like I said before the swim and then again before the run “It’s _________ hours of my life, I got it.”

We can do a whole lot more than most of us think. Most people just tend to quit before they get there, some even quick before they get to the starting line. And no, I’m not talking about just racing–we quit when something gets hard, when that pose in yoga is burning our thighs and triceps–What’s the worse that can happen? We get ripped and grow stronger?! Not such a bad thing to center the breath, use the breath and continue moving forward.

I don’t know about you, but forward is my favorite direction.

So what all did I learn in Arizona at the event?:

• -Breath, seriously, breath!
• -Boobs are a bad place to store Gu. (I have photo proof, but no one needs to see that)
• -Don’t quit early.
• -Sweating isn’t such a bad thing, it means your body is cooling itself. My body decided to NOT use those cool sweat glands. It’s cool body, I’ll just dump this ice water on you, no worries!
• -Even when running a half marathon I get hit on by a 55 year old man FOR his 24 year old son. His best line was “You have good form, you should get my son back into running…” Score! I still got it!
• -Breath, and then give a time frame. I usually go a bit longer than what will actually be the time, “It’s only 3 hours of my life! I totes got this!” Three hours seems super short when you finish running in 2:22.