God was doing great things in my life.  Healing and restoration was taking place on multiple levels.  For this race I was going to settle in and enjoy the journey a little bit.  

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Always challenging myself though, I spent the Summer at the pool working with a triathlon swim coach and training with a new group of friends I had met.  At the start of the Summer I couldn't swim halfway across the length of the pool and at the end of the Summer we were doing drills on the buoy line at Tablerock Dam.  Talk about intimidating!

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The Olympic distance was offered that year but I stuck with the Sprint distance to work on my form and speed.  I had fun and felt strong. 

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This would also be the year we would celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary and I had always wanted to go to Florence, Italy.  Being blessed with the opportunity to work 3 part time jobs I was able to earn enough money to supplement our trip and have it paid for be for the plane left the ground.

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We enjoyed 10 day amazing days in Italy and race #2 would be three days after we arrived home.  I slept off the jet lag, met up with the crew at the dam to do some drills and get ready to race.  I had upgraded to a new bike taking away a lot of the extra weight I didn't need to drag with me up the hills and, I was running a little bit more than walking.

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It was a great Summer!  Form and speed improved and I could feel that I had pressed through to another level of who I could be. 

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After crossing the finish line I would have the opportunity to meet Gordon Haller

who was the very first Ironman Triathlon Winner back in 1978.  What an honor to have raced on the same day with a legend.