One hour, thirty minutes and fifteen seconds

This past weekend Neal and I competed in the ACME Music City Sprint Triathlon in Nashville, TN. While it might have been the most miserable hour and a half of my life, it was also one of the most personally rewarding weekends I have had in a while.

The weekend started off early Saturday morning with a fresh cup of joe to go from O'Henry's (by myself... cough...LK...cough). After a few sips of the dark roast of the day, I was off and running. I headed to Neal's to catch the end of the 18th stage of the Tour de France and pick him and Dave up to head to Nashville. After a quick 3 hour drive, some ridiculous conversation and a stop for a tiny bladder, we pulled into the Hard Rock Cafe in Nashville to have lunch with my parents, sister, and four of our close family friends who live in Nashville.

Following a great lunch, we headed to the hotel to relax for a bit before having to go buy Neal a pair of goggles at Dicks because he couldn't seem to get anywhere this weekend without forgetting something. After returning to the hotel we quickly changed clothes and went to have an enjoyable pre-race dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory with family and friends. We then headed back to the hotel to get our gear packed, eat $3 bananas and catch some sleep for the race Sunday morning.

Before I knew it, it was 5 o'clock a.m. and our cell phone a

larms were screaming at us to wake up. Following a warm shower and a quick bite to eat the three of us headed to the transition area at 5:45. The nerves were really beginning to set in. I was confident in the bike and run, but this was the first time that I had ever done an open water race. When we arrived at LP field we set up our areas, got a quick warm up in, received a lousy motivational speech from "Coach Dave" and before I knew it they were calling the racers to the start line.

The first swimmer entered the water at 7:38 and by 7:45 I had began my race. For the next hour and twenty-eight minutes I battled the current of the Cumberland River, the hills of Nashville and the scorching heat that is often present on summer days in the south. However, all of the pain that I felt for the first hour and twenty-eight minutes of the race would quickly disappear as I came up to the second to last turn. As I approached the finish line, adrenaline along with the shouting of Neal, John Amos, Dave and my family pushed me to "sprint" through the finish to end up with a time of one hour, thirty minutes and fifteen seconds.

It was over, I had finished my second triathlon. Something that would make me ecstatic any day. However, what made this day (and weekend) special was not just completing the race, but being able to share this moment with family, and friends (both old and new). It is weekends like this that make me look back and think how blessed I am to be able to have a life full of health and loving family and friends.

Much thanks goes out to Mom, Dad, Katie, John Amos and Dave for coming to support us, everyone that has congratulated me, those who have trained with me and to Neal for getting me involved in such a great (and addicting) sport. Additionally, congratulations to Neal for finishing 2nd in our age group for the second time in three races!!!!