My Bride is Now an Endurance Athlete!

I want to say Congrats to my bride!  Today she ran her first duathlon and she did great! It was really different for me being on this side of the race, but I really enjoyed cheering for her and rooting her on. She had been training hard and I am very proud of her. So here is her race report (Note that she is a much better writer than me, or I, I don't know.)

Emily's post: First of all, honey. It's "me," a better writer than "me." Wait. I take it back. It's "I." As in better writer than I am. I blame the physical exertion for my mental lapse.
I have to admit I did get out of my comfort zone quite a bit by actually doing a race. The Lucky 13 duathalon put on by the Barzack family is a great venue for the novice runner. It's a well-organized, but laid-back event where we run one-mile, bike 11, and then run a mile again. Awards are given for 13th, 26th, and 39th place instead of the usual first, second, and third. This is very encouraging for me as I was sure to achieve a PR just for finishing!
I had trained for a few months by joining a beginning runners' group for women. But, honestly, this would be the first time I had run two miles maybe ever. And my oldest son and I went a local greenline for an 11-mile ride Saturday night which was the first time I had biked 11 miles maybe ever. But with my husband's encouragement and advice I was ready to see what I could do.
Overall, I had a great experience. My goals were to not embarass my husband by bonking. Ha. Really I was hoping to just run both miles without walking and to not fall off the bike. Mission accomplished! I was pleased to be finished in an hour and three minutes.
As a true novice, I have two observations about the experience:
1) It is great to be applauded and cheered for something.
I live a blessed life, but it is one that doesn't require me to do a lot of award-winning activity. I am a wife and mom of three and I teach a college course. And, though my husband often thanks me for cooking a good meal, my family is not likely to break into applause over the meatloaf! On occasion, a student will quietly thank me for a good course at the end of the semester, but they don't clap, ever. (Although, one did give me a certificate for being the best-dressed professor she had seen because I never wore the same outfit twice.) And the only time my name is in the newspaper is if I write a letter to the editor.
But, today I got to bask in cheers and applause just for running around a neighborhood twice and jumping on a bike. And I loved it! It was especially sweet to be cheered on by my three boys and James. My oldest son did get some laughs and the beginning of the race when he said, "Run faster, Mom. You do know this is a race, right?" Ha.
2) It is great to be around fit people.
From being James' support team for years, I know the triathlete community is a special group. It seems most people want others to enjoy the sport, too. And they feed off of each others' enthusiasm. It's also typical for them to want to help others' out as the Barzack family demonstrated so well by using money raised from this event for great local charaties. This morning it was great to be a part of that.
There wasn't a lot of make-up or perfect hair, but everybody was smiling and very fit. It was a beautiful site. I happen to be blessed with good genes so that I look like I'm in good shape even after having three kids. But, today was one of the first times in my life that I felt like I was in good shape. I felt strong after accomplishing a physical goal.
So thanks, honey, for pushing me outside my comfort zone into a little spot of glory.