The MOO

I'm not even really sure where to begin. It was quite a weekend, quite a day...and there's a lot that I came away with.

After a very long night in airport terminals, or on an airplane, I finally arrived in Madison...and finally checked into my hotel...and most importantly showered. I ended up meeting up with Erin, and worked on our strategic cheering plan for Sunday. Then Saturday evening, we had the team dinner...which completely shouldn't be called "dinner" because it happened at 4pm. But that's beside the point.

I figured I had come all this way to cheer for everyone, so I might as well do it right, so I woke up ridiculously early to meet the team to walk to the race start. At first, there weren't that many people around...but shortly, that definitely changed. Especially in the good spectator areas.

Once we saw the swim start, and also took the time to be amazed at the pro who was easily a quarter of a mile ahead of everyone else...Debbie and I decided more caffeine was needed...so we found a non-Starbucks coffee shop that was open and got some amazing coffee...then made our way back to the course. We ended up in a couple of places...but out of sheer chance (and necessity of finding a bathroom) we ended up being able to watch everyone come out of transition part 1.

After seeing most of the team coming out of transition, we made our way back to the hotel, and met up with Erin...and we headed out to the bike course. Again, by chance, we caught several people at mile 35. Again...quite awesome. We cheered. We made people laugh. It's even quite possible we made some people cry.

Did I mention the costumes? Yes...we were definitely the crazy ones dressed as devils.

We stayed at mile 35 for quite a while, but then decided it was time to move on. I'm not sure what mile we ended up at next...but we saw basically the same group of people...basically because we were looking for Erin's bf (now fiance) Tim.

By the third place we stopped, again, seeing some of the same people...they were starting to look for us...because, of course, we weren't just cheering for our friends...we were cheering for everyone. As a fellow spectator put it best: "If you can make someone smile at mile 70 of this thing, you're doing something good."

Then it was on to the team cheering section where we were more interested in food than anything else because we were hungry...and needed a bit of a rest.

After an almost nap...we moved back into town on the run course, and made it back just in time to see the same group on the run course.

I'm not going to lie...it was a long day. I woke up close to 3am, and didn't get back to bed until 2 the next morning. A large portion of that time was spent on my feet, screaming, clapping, and ringing a cowbell. I have shin splints, a sunburn, and I don't think my vocal chords have yet recovered.

But what really didn't hit until the next day was what I had really seen take place. I saw several of my friends finish one of the hardest things a human being can put their bodies through. It wasn't just Sunday...because for many of them, this process started a year ago. And to see them for a few seconds during that day will stay with me forever.

I was a little surprised that I didn't get more emotional on Sunday. I did good. I think I was so focused on cheering for everyone that it didn't really sink in what was happening around me. Then Monday morning, I watched a video of Mark crossing the finish line...and I was done. I cried then. I cried on the way to the hotel. I'm about to cry now just thinking about it.

From those of us that cheered that day, I have heard of 2 different reactions to the day. One being "I can't wait to do one myself!!" and the other being "This is all the proof I need to tell me that I never want to do this, ever."

Guess which category I fall into?

Yeah...the first.

But we probably already knew that. I've been thinking for a long time that next year would be the year for one. And I'd been thinking about doing Beach2Battleship...for no other reason that the timing would be about right, and I've always wanted to do that race. Plus, since it's not in Mexico, I could get my family to be there...most likely. Now, after experiencing the team effort at MOO...I'm thinking Arizona. Though not the official team race...there are a lot of other people doing the race...and I'm liking that idea.

It is going to be a really long year, and I've seen a lot of what I'm going to go through...though I have absolutely no idea how it's going to feel personally. I'm excited and terrified at the same time...which is probably a good thing. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I stay healthy throughout this process...or at least as healthy as I can.

To finish this whole thing off...I have to say I'm still incredibly happy with my decision to go. I've been thanked by many people that raced that day, and by Ed. And to me, it was the least I could do. I didn't do the hard part...but I hope that my small contribution to the cause helped my friends, and strangers alike, to achieve their goal.