The Lord Did It!

I arrived in Taitung on Friday around 4pm and we dropped off our bags and caught the shuttle to the Challenge Village where we signed in and got our bib and package! Wow... those who join Triathlon have money. That's what I've come to think as the bikes that these people have can cost up to 30,000US$! So, security for the bike area is really stringent.  

Erik, the biker, finally arrived. He was on a business trip in Guangzhou and flew into Kaohsiung where his wife and daughter met up with him. They then drove down to Taitung! So, the Team Relay went to run a few errands together and then we went out to dinner, while the rest of the gang hung out. The hotel we're at had an hour of buffet snacks and the food was so delicious!

We all went to our room by 10pm and unpacked. I didn't sleep until quite late and I was up at 3:15am. So, I had about four hours of sleep. I went down to the lobby and because of the Challenge, they had a small breakfast buffet set up. I got two hard boiled eggs, a banana and made my own coffee and sat and had my time with God... delightful! When that finished, the people were coming into the lobby. We left at 4:45 as the swim started at 6am, but we had to drop off things before 5:30. 

I've never joined one of these and the organization of these kinds of events is just astounding! 

After our swimmer went in, we walked to the relay tent. Isaiah Go was out in an hour... 3rd! Erik took off! He was planning to finish in 5:30 hours, biking 180km. Astounding! 

We headed back to the hotel and I rested for an hour. I didn't feel like eating... 

We were out again at 11am. The weather looked so perfect... I was praying!

Erik was back by 1:15 and we transition. I took off... I trotted off... I had set a few goals... I reached one: to finish and still be able to walk! The rest of my goals, I did not! It got hot and the sun came out. Earlier, the forecast said thunder showers... but nothing! So, I had wanted to run 21 without walking into aid stations. But I only sustained that up to the 18th kilometer! From then on, every other aid station I walked and got cold water or juice or Coca Cola! I won't give you the blow by blow description, but I finished in 4:41:00! We as a team came in 6th for the Mixed Category and 11th overall for the 226th! Astounding! Thank you for praying!

We are the 2-4-6 HOP Team. Can you guess why?

We got our towel and our shirt and our medal and our backpack and the snacks... and we took pictures and then John and Kathryn brought me back to the hotel while they went out to dinner! I had to take a shower, pack things up and walk about 300meters to the train station! I had the eight o'clock train to catch to head back up to Taipei.

I was home by 1:15! And then I worked to get the house back in order and put my stuff away. I walked in and the house smelled like diapers because the helper didn't wrap them up in a plastic bag before tossing them into the trash can!

I finally went to bed at 2:35 and was up by 5:31am!

Church today... And I will blog more later!

Daily Lovely Insight:

The Lord is indeed my strength and my shield! 

Throughout the run, I prayed and I talked to people and I thanked all the volunteers. When my legs were feeling weak, I trusted God to carry me and He did!

Seek Him First!