another 70.3 more journey

it was a weird and fun race to remember.
the day started at around 4am for me. i woke up as my alarm went off. took a quick shower and prepare the coffee, then i grab all my stuffs before i had breakfast. i head out around 5am to the jean klock park. park the car by the railroad and the water tower of st. joseph and had to take the shuttle to the race site. as i got to the transition area, i looked around for people that i know and found no one, so i went ahead to my bike area and set up my transition. it's always a good thing to get to the transition area early, as it allowed me to arrange all my stuffs in a way that i wanted to.
after i was done with all that, i go around the transition area to find people that i know and i found j and dan. talked to them for a little bit then re-check my transition area and head out to the swim course. as i walked along the shore about 3/4 of the way, i started seeing people turn around heading back to the transition area. then, one person said the swim is cancelled; as i found out after the race that the tv news was saying the waves is about 5ft. and so i thought, 'oh well.....' so i head back to the transition area as i knew i need to get ready for a short run, since now it will be a duathlon, instead of a triathlon; in which i don't really like....
after getting ready for the first run leg of the race, i thought to myself, well, i guess it won't be a 70.3 race then, it be come a 71.2 race.
the first run leg started the same way as the swim leg, as all the athletes go by waves. and i was in wave 13. as i waited for my wave, i saw a couple of other athlete went pass me and 2 of them were the pros, which are chris legh and gina kehr. looks pretty cool and nice. when it came to my turn, i started to run pretty easy, not too fast, but not too slow. so i thought to myself, 'well....this isn't so bad.' until about half way to the run, i felt like, 'man.....i need to go to the bathroom for number 1.' so, as i got to transition, i went straight to the bathroom, then quickly looked at my watch. it showed about 17mins, so i thought, 'hm...that wasn't so bad.'
so, i got to my bike and started to walk to the bike start line.
on the bike, i felt ok in the beginning. as i pedal thru the fist half of the bike leg along the M63 highway, i thought to myself, 'man....this area have a lot of berries farm. almost every side of the streets, there are signs of fresh berries all over the place.' i passed thru the first aid station as i was still fueling with the stuffs that i had on me. i sipped some powerbar drinks and about half way i took some powerbar fruit smoothie bar ('hm.....my favorite bike food'). as i get to the next aid station, i threw away my empty fuelbelt bottle (as i planned to) and took in the gatorade endurance from a girl (thanx) in the aid station. i continued on pedaling along the course. along the way, i saw a couple of road signs as i was trying to find out where i was. i knew i was in the south haven area, since i saw an ambulance on the side of the road with a sign said, 'south haven area ambulance'. then i got to a town called bangor. and then, finally i realized i was heading back to the park as i noticed the area was started to be familiar again. at the last aid station, i yelled for some water and took some water from another girl (thanx). i pour the water all over my body, head and mouth to just keep me not dried. as i got closer to the park, this one car just pulled in front of me and weaving around in front of my way. and suddenly the car stopped right in front of me, so i yelled and i think i yelled pretty loud because one of the officials on the road was pointing at me and said to me to relax. so i was able to go around the car and kept going to get back to the transition area. as i got to transition, i looked at my watch again and it showed 2:41, so i said to myself, 'oh wow.....that was great......'
so i got to transition, chance my bike shoes to the run shoes again and this time i don't need to go to the bathroom.
as i ran out of the transition area, i saw j on the side of the road with street clothes and i thought, 'oh my goodness.....u hv got to be kidding me that he's already done with the race.' it turned out he said he had a bike problem, so he didn't finish the race, so i said to him, at least u'r ok and we'll talk later. and, i continue with my run. in the beginning, i felt good. i felt exactly the opposite as i felt in gulf coast on the last run leg, so i said to myself, all rite, let's get to this. as i got to the first turn, i saw a familiar place. and i said, 'wait...wasn't i here yesterday and yes i was right it was a burger place called north shore inn. i visited the area with the family that i stayed in. so i continue on running. until about mile 5, then suddenly i felt something that i had never felt in a race. i was hungry, i was actually quite hungry in the middle of the run. i cannot believe it either. i knew i have 3 powerbar gel on my pocket, so i reached for those and took 2 of them. and a girl just running on my side suddenly said, 'hm....lunch.....' so i said, 'yep...and that was nice....' and i offer to her the other gel and she took it. after a short talk, i leave her enjoying the gel and trying to get to the another aid station as i realized those 2 gels that i took would not be enough for me. as i got the aid station, i took pretty much everything that they offer. i took a banana, a powerbar, 2 powerbar gel, water, ice, gatorade and more water. and i almost ate 'em all, but i didn't. i left the gels and half of the bar in my pockets. but u know the weird thing about that feeling was? as hungry as i was, i knew i was able to finish the race. so, i continued with my run and i felt great. as i kept on running, this one guy behind me was saying, 'hm....i think i know this guy...' as i heard the voice, i knew that was bill and i knew he was on his 2nd lap, so we talked briefly and kept running. as i got to the mile 6 aid station along the M63 highway, i took some gatorade and water. as i was drinking, one of the ladies in the aid station said, 'u know what.....? we are in the triathlon wet t-shirt contest....' so, i burst into laugh and spit all the stuffs that i just put in my mouth on the road.....and i said to her, '.....that was definitely a good one...' as i kept on running for the 2nd lap, i thought to myself of the targets, goals, and things that i wanted to do during the race. and, i realized i was doing it. then i got to the same aid station again that made me laugh, and i said to them, '...this is the best aid station i've ever been to, because this is the only aid station that can make me laugh...' so, i thanked them and hopefully i made their day and put some smiles on them. as i got closer to the finish line, i started to sprint my run. i will always do a sprint finish in my race. as i got to the finish line, i let out a big sigh of relieving breath and everybody that saw me was laughing.....
and as i looked down on my watch, it showed 5:26:44. so, i pumped up a fist and said, 'yes....nice....' as it turned out the actual race result record the time of 5:26:51 for me. still, i am so glad and very happy with the result.
thank God for the race, for letting me finish this journey. thank God for putting me in the position to meet the aagenas family (charlotte, al, marc, brenda, jason, robin, charlotte, kirsten, etc), as the family that took me in their lovely place in st. joseph, michigan. thank God for my coaches and teammates for always encouraging me in whatever it is i'm doing on and off training. thank God for my family and friends that encourage me thru prayer, wishes, text messages, etc. and a special thank God for that special someone that encourage me thru the message that u sent that said, '...be confidence that u can finish the race...' at race morning as it actually pushed me to finish the race. thank u all, i love u all and God bless u all......