Sept. 29: Andi. Done. Can.

I swam...


I biked...


I ran...


I conquered! What a memorable experience!


(Ongoing editor's note: There are so many more memories and photos that I want to post on here, so keep checking back. I hope to have all of this up in the next few days!!!)

YES, I FINISHED my first Olympic distance triathlon today!




Above is the medal that drapes a couple of celebratory drinks!

The day started bright and early, like any other race day. We all met in the lobby at 6am with all of our gear so that we could bike to the race site. Riding with your transition bag takes a bit of skill. Combine that with navigating through Washington traffic (which was fortunately minimal at that time of day) and the fact that it was dark out made for an interesting ride.

We checked in and set up our transition areas, and then waited for the race to begin. Some of the time was spent mingling with other racers, some of the time was spent warming up...but most of the time was just waiting.


Racers bring their bikes into the transition area and begin preparing for the long day ahead.


My transition area set and ready to go. I would be number 903 in the race today.


Ryan and Andrew find time to chat while waiting for the start of the race.

The race would start with the professional racers in the first swim wave, followed by the Semper Fi group. Then each wave after that was separated by age group, for a total of 15 waves overall. I was in wave number 13, and started my swim at exactly 8:44am. One of the memorable things about the swim was that it started it smack-dab in front of Watergate.


Swimmers jump into the balmy 75 degree Potomac River with Watergate and the JFK Center for Performing Arts in the background.

I made the decision early on to not push myself like I have done in my sprint tris, but to simply find a pace and keep it going throughout the section. The swim went great, and I didn't lose my breath or my focus the entire time. The water was a warm 75 degrees and was very comfortable for a swim. I thought I had smelled a slight odor when I jumped in the water, but that could be my imagination. At least I'd like to think so. All I know is that I didn't run into any floating garbage, though I did swallow a small gulp of water on the way out. Yum.


An arial view of our swim route in the Potomac River.

When I climbed the ladders out of the Potomac 32 minutes later, I had to run 300 meters to the transition area where I was to mount our bike. I had to run through a misting tent, which was a new experience for me. Why did they have that? It certainly wasn't to cool us off. Perhaps it was a has HASMAT tent to rinse off the unknowns that we had picked up during our swim.

My transition time was intentionally slow. I wanted to make sure that I didn't forget anything. 6:11 minutes later, I was on my way for part two of the three part journey, the cycling.

The Nation's Triathlon bike route was flat and fast. It consisted of two loops which took us past a number of well-known monuments including the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. I was happy to see familiar areas that I had visited the day before, which helped give me perspective on where I was on the course.

The wind was strong that day, and at times, I faced 20mph headwinds, which slowed my pace down to a mere 13.4 mph. The first loop around the course seemed a lot longer than the second one, for some reason. As I pushed on, I just hoped and prayed that I wouldn't experience a flat tire. I saw more than one person on the side of the road maintenancing their bike, either due to a flat or some other problem. On occasion, I also saw cyclists discussing something with officials. I figured that probably wasn't a good sign, since they were standing and not riding on their bike. Later on after the race, I found out that there were a number of racers who were either penalized or disqualified for not following the rules.

There was one part of the bike course that was a lot of fun, and that was going through a tunnel that took us under the Nation's Mall. The tunnel was probably 1000 meters long, and whenever I went under it, I'd hear (and join in on) whoops and hollars. It put a big smile on my face.


An image of a loop of the bike course. We had to do two loops to make it a 25 mile ride.

There were a bunch of people on the sidelines supporting any Team in Training athlete that went by. They'd all yell and cheer for me as I passed, and most of the time I had the energy to yell back or say thank you. I figured if I was truly competitive, I probably wouldn't have done that...but I was there for the fun and had nothing to lose.

The bike was shorter than I had anticipated, though when I hit the sections with strong headwinds at 20mph (which seemed like 2/3 of the course), that was a bit challenging. But I kept focus. And then my run went well, though it was hot at times. I'm proud to say I didn't walk ONCE, and I sprinted at the finish line. For some reason, I had energy the entire time and probably could have gone on if I had to.

An hour and 22 mintues later, I was back in transition prepping for my run. Again, I took my time and departed two minutes and eleven seconds later. The first two miles of the run course were very hot and very boring. Nothing to see (in comparison to the other grand sites, anyways). Things got interesting when I passed the JFK Center for the Performing Arts. I then went past the Lincoln Memorial again and up Independence Avenue past Constitution Gardens, all of the war memorials and the Reflecting Pool.

We then ran around the Washington Monument and past the "pretty side" of the White House. The FBI Building, National Archives, National Treasury and the Holocause Memorial was soon behind me as well.


The run was an incredible experience with all of the history around me.

I had elected to take my own water bottle, which I kept in my back pocket of my racing shirt. So when I passed the first water station, I instructed the volunteers to use me as a target with cups of water, which they did with delight. The water splashed on my body felt sooooooo good, and I looked forward to every water stop after that.

My honored heroes, my Oma and my friend Luc, were on my mind throughout a lot of the race. When things would start getting rough, my mind often shifted to all of the supporters (YOU!) who have sent me words of encouragement or donations to help support my mission. "I have to finish strong", I thought...and then I would somehow get this little burst of energy that would just keep me going.

The final stretch took me East on Pennsylvania Avenue, where I ran straight towards the nation's Capital Building. What a beautiful, and unforgettable, backdrop. I turned around once more and headed the other way towards the finish line, which was located at The Old Post Office, a beautiful building that was almost demolished in the 70s due to the disrepair at that time.

I soon saw what was most of my entire Team Michigan, cheering me on toward the finish line. I don't know how I found it, but I ended up picking up steam and I sprinted toward the finish line with a big grin on my face. As I crossed the finish line, I was immediately greeted by a volunteer who put a beautiful finishers medal around my neck. I then saw Coach Brian, who gave me a big hug. It was at that moment that all of my emotion had taken over and I started sobbing like a baby. I am welling up even now as I think about it. I felt like every single emotion that I had kept secret for the last five months of this experience came flooding through me when I saw him. I had finished, and the emotion was completely overwhelming and unbelievable.

When I crossed the finish line exactly 62 and a half minutes after I had started the run, I was cheered on my all of my dear friends through Team in Training. My coaches were there, and coach Brian was the first to give me a huge hug. I completely broke down at that point, being overwhelmed by a flurry of emotions...I just cried uncontrollably like a baby! I am typing this now and as I write about it, my tears are welling up once again. I wish you could have experienced what I did when I crossed that finish line. There really are no words. All I can say is that the tears that I shed are tears of joy.

The entire race took me three hours, five minutes, and twenty seconds. I beat my goal time of 3:30 by a ton, and I'm thrilled.

The whole day was a wonderful experience. Thanks to everyone who has emailed or texted me this week and weekend. I really appreciate all of your support!


A close-up shot of the finisher's medal I received today.


Brian displays a sense of pride after the entire team crossed the finish line without injury.


Kevin is about ready to get this party started.

Jared, Lisa and Andrew kicking back.


Before we know it, Jared is down for the count.


Aman thinks back to how far he has come with his swimming. When he started, he could barely swim across the pool. Now he is an Olympic distance triathlete. Way to go Aman!!


Pete enjoys a cold one after the race. He finished the race in 2 hours 24 minutes!