Ramble on, Rose.

This weekend was a big one for me, personally.

Saturday I turned 26. While I love a good party and understand how much fun birthdays can be, I prefer to downplay my own. Let's be real, there's not much I did to get there.

I lied. I'm actually 116!

But it was a pleasant day: I woke up with no alarm to a sunny day, danced around the house with my parents' pups, and had a wonderful homemade dinner with my mom, dad, and grandparents. I even celebrated from afar as my favorite city Siena had their own celebration!

Sunday, however, I woke up real early and was out the door by 7. My lovely Mom, my cheerleader in all things, joined me off of Main Street to see me off on another crazy challenge: my first triathlon!

The Ramblin' Rose event, a triathlon for women only, tours North Carolina through the race season annually. The first leg is a 225 yard swim, or 10 laps in the pool at the local YWCA. The wait to get to the pool was brutal but I was glad to meet some other participants to take out some of the pre-race jitters. I didn't practice in a traditional length pool so wasn't too sure how fast I was going into it, but ended up at my target.

Next up is the 8 mile bike course, which consisted of 2 laps of 4 miles each. This part was easily the most challenging, not only because I didn't train on the bike (I had to borrow one and got it too late), but also because of the brutal hills, which from observation I can say were horrible for everyone. The worst part was knowing what was coming the second time around. Then, on the big ascent for the second time, my chain came off the gears. After a pit stop, I finished it off the monster calling to mind all the things I lived through that I would qualify as worse than cycling up that hill two times.

Downhills were nice, but they seemed to disappear far too quickly. Yet I couldn't help but laugh, whizzing down the hill at a break neck speed, that in the cemetery I already passed several times, there was a headstone for a person named "Self." Ignoring the fact that I nearly face planted my dismount, I moved into my final transition. 

Finally, there's the 2 mile run. My calves were fairly tight when I moved into this phase (think: jelly legs). Knowing I was nearly at then end, I did my best to enjoy the final leg. But the whole time, there were strangers on the path with me being encouraging who I could encourage too. Half the beauty of this race is the feeling of "You go, girl!" that is inherent to it.

With a few days perspective, I'm honestly very proud.

I got through it all. I swam, biked, and ran the whole distance. Not one bit of slacking the whole time. I walked away that day sure I had given it all that I had. While I know I could've trained better, you can't always be 100% prepared. I'm happy with my performance and have plenty of room to improve.

But the race was full of all kinds of people, not just the typical athlete type. Some women were real athletes and there to compete, but it was inspiring to see so many people be active and doing something different. I hope they use this race as a portal for regular fitness in their lives.

Yet it wasn't just shapes and sizes that varied. The oldest competitor was 77 (!!!) and the youngest was 10. I met, befriended, and cheered on one girl, turning 11 in November, who originally planned to race with her mom. She did the whole thing on her own!

I spent much of the race looking around and imagining myself changing and meeting my own goals, both fitness and not, as I move into my 30s, as a professional, as a partner, and even at 77.

Here's to another year full of uphills and down, pit stops, friends, goals, and accomplishments! Thanks for being along for the ride.