Against all odds, I made it to the finish line!
When I arrived on the race site this morning first person I saw was one of my Sparky Friends Lori who was volunteering on the bike course. How nice to see a familiar face when I was so anxious!
The weather was sunny and warm, perfect for a little swim!
Wetsuits were recommended but not mandatory. I wore my "shortie" but some women preferred not to wear a wetsuit at all.
I got body marked and my bike, Jolly Jumper, was checked and we made our way to the Transition area where I set my stuff (castboot included)
Thank you, Lori, for the photos. On the last one, the top of my castboot shows...
Then I headed to the beach with my mini-transition bag and went for a practice swim. I found that the water was not as cold as usual.
Then, we got the pre-race meeting and celebration of Cancer Survivors. That was the emotional part before the action got started.
On my way to the beach I saw the Swimming Clinic Guy from Peak Performance - I really need to ask his name - who yelled at me "now, I know you are not afraid of that water!" and I answered "certainly not!". The man got to witness my first swim in a lake a few month ago - and my first panic attack - AND my first swim in the Ocean - and my second panic attack when I got stuck in seaweeds - so he knew I needed an extra cheer! That boost of confidence he made me feel pushed me to try some Freestyle stroke which I had never dared in salty waters before. Thank you, Swimming Clinic Guy! 
I swam a counter-clockwise 1/3 mile in 14:26 minutes - which is average for me - then I biked the 15 miles course in 57:33 minutes (including the time I spent helping someone with a flat tire) and then I walked the 2.6 miles running course in 50:03 minutes (pace 18:32 min/mile - I couldn't run at all because of my foot injury) but if I had been able to run I would probably have made it in 25 minutes or so (conservatively estimating an avg pace of 9 min/mile). I decided to not wear my castboot because my foot was not sore at all after the biking - which I regretted about 1/4 mile later...
Fortunately, my devoted friend Sharon was a great support as she walked the whole course with me, distracting me from my pain by making spectators cheer for me and talking to me (and making me laugh) all along! ♥ Thanks again, Sweetie! ♥
I spent 8:23 minutes in the first Transition (including that 1/3 mile that I walked - instead of running like I would have normally done - from the mini-transition at the beach to T1 were the bikes were awaiting) and 2:00 minutes in T2 - I was hesitating on wearing my castboot or not...
My overall time was 2:12:24 which places me 469th/497 competitors. I have more the feeling that I completed a duathlon because I didn't run, but that is all right because I this was not my first triathlon; I have proudly become a Triathlete a month ago and I know that if I hadn't been injuried I would have made it somewhere under 1:45:00.
Today, I had a GREAT SWIM, a GREAT BIKING and a FUN (but long) WALK chit chatting with Sharon and enjoying the beautiful Portland scenery.
Although I was sometimes called "crazy" or "unreasonable" to race with a stress fracture - but then a nice man told me that I was STRONG - I am glad I participated in that event because it had such a spiritual meaning to me... and I knew I would be stuck in my Aircast for a while anyway!
At the end of the race, I headed to the Medical tent for ice and I am no more in pain than I was this morning before the race. Tomorrow bone scan will give more details on my injury... [cross my fingers]
No more race scheduled until November now - 1st Half Marathon - so I am going to have time to give that foot of mine some well deserved REST.
