I'm writing this brief post so that I will feel anxious about starting something and not finishing it, and thus will be more apt to blog this account sooner rather than later by starting it now. Does that make sense at all?
My trip to China was one of the best trips of my life - and probably the most eventful one at that. I had to make notes everyday so that I wouldn't forget the important things!
Hainan is BEAUTIFUL. For those of you not familiar with the area, it is an island in the southern part of China. We stayed in the city of Haikou, in an amazing hotel - probably the nicest hotel I have ever stayed at. Thank goodness for EST (Endurance Sports Travel) which made travel accomodations so much easier and at a discounted rate. Anyways I could go on about this for a long time so I will just get to the specifics...
The race was on Sunday, so after much fun and festivities and friend-making, we started off the beach into the Nandu River at 7:00am. 16 hours and 34 minutes later, despite my aim time of 14 hours - 14 hours and 30 minutes, I struggled across the finish line, earning a spot to the Ironman World Championships in Kona on October 10, 2009!! While normally I would be really upset about that time, considering the extreme conditions of this race (the swim course having a ridiculous current of 2 meters / sec, made worse by almost terrential downpours occurring on Friday which flooded parts of the city, a course which was made a it more trecherous due to the sharp rocks that were lining the shore if you came in at a really narrow angle, and temperature that I have never experienced in my life, which I was told registered (taking into account humidity) around 116 degrees F), I am just so happy to have finished and not quit. Let me tell you, the thought crossed my mind during the swim because one part was, for me, nearly impossible, and if the race directors didn't come by in a boat after 38 minutes and tell the people who were stuck there to just go on to the next buoy, I probably wouldn't have finished. But that's a story for the next blog.
Anyway. I am so excited about qualifying! Assuming I go, that will mean that I will be coming back to the States at least until March so that I can do the race and also spend time with my sister for her wedding (I won't be able to take a month off from school for both things in October), so that will be interesting / exciting.
I'm still in shock. And lots of pain. (Pain only from the burns I have on a large surface-area of my body, not from sore muscles, of which I have almost none - understandably because my time was so slow.)
Anyway, if you are interested in the specifics of this race, stay tuned and I'll write a nice entry with PICTURES! Yay! :)
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