El Tour

It's not often that I (Miranda) get to brag about myself on this blog.  But, I am pretty proud of what I accomplished last weekend and so I am going to do it.  Last weekend, I did this.

This was at the end of my 54 mile bike race.  Believe me when I say I didn't feel as joyous as I look.

 Several month ago, I heard that our ward's scout group was earning their cycling badge together by training for and participating in the El Tour De Tucson.  It sounded like a good way to push myself.  "After all," I thought, "If the 12 year old scouts can do it, I can too."  So I asked the scout leader if I could join in on the training.

To make a long story short,  the training was easier than I thought.  I enjoyed biking WAY more than running (I pretty much enjoy ANYTHING way more that running). I found myself doing many solo rides and really curious to see how far and how fast I could get.

The sweet girl was training with us and we quickly became riding buddies due to our comparable speed.  This is us at the beginning of the race.

Unfortunately, I really wanted to push myself for the race, so we didn't stay together long.

4 few hours later, my neck and back were on fire.  Mostly because the bike I was borrowing was actually too big for me.  I was in intense pain. My legs were also starting to cramp and ache. But, I was determined to finish strong.  I may or may not have also been motivated to beat all the other scouts and leaders.  So I made minimal resting stops and pretending to not notice the strong side wind.  I hear this often, but it became a complete mind game for me.  My thoughts shifted from, "This isn't so bad. You're doing fine. Just keep going." and "This is so awful. You're going to die!  How much longer?  I am not going to make it."

When I crossed the finish line, I was completely spent. I began crying and trying to catch my breath, a bad combination.  I quickly searched to find my kids.  Brent had brought them all to watch me cross the finish line.  This was important to me because I want them to see their mom doing hard things.  I want one family member's successes to be cheered and shared by the whole family.  Once I saw them, I totally broke down emotionally.  The tears wouldn't stop, I was so overcome with relief to see them and be done with the race.  I practically fell into Brent's arms, choked down my sobs and said, "Brent, that was SO hard."

You may not be able to tell, but I am sobbing.

  I am so grateful for a body that can do amazing hard things.  I am so grateful for a husband who cheers me on and arranges his schedule around my training so I can accomplish things.  I am grateful for my kids to see that mom can push herself and have hobbies and be a person and a mom too.

Don't be too impressed, everyone got a medal for finishing.

I actually feel like this might be something that I enjoy doing again.  Maybe next time we can make it a family thing.