Battered, bruised, excited, sad, nervous...and on and on...

Well, my brother and I finished the Coosa River Challenge. I have to say that it was a lot harder than I had expected! The mountain biking portion was rocky--and that is putting it mildly. I made good friends with a tree and hopefully haven't broken a rib...although I don't have medical insurance to even find out...hah! I am sure the pain will go away eventually. Besides that it went pretty well! It took us about 5 1/2 hours, and we did everything from trail running, mountain biking (or in my case--crashing), canoeing (or in our case--tipping), mud pit crawling, bow and arrow shooting, 15-foot cliff jumping and much more. We don't really have any pictures during most of the race, but here are a couple that Lindsay (my brother's wife) got of us:


Here is a pic of us rowing across the river--and yes, our canoe is backward--shush!!

Here is a pic of us FINALLY crossing the finish line!

Even though it wasn't always fun, we had a great time. Even better, Mike was there at the finish line to greet me! He came down for the weekend to hang out, and to come to my Birmingham going away party and more. Here is a cute pic of us after the race, while we were watching the Auburn v. LSU game (WAR EAGLE!)



There are more pics available on my brother's Flickr page which you can access through mine I believe...his username is SteelerDave.

My mom threw me a little going away party on Sunday, which was great. I got to see a lot of great people...so thanks to them for coming out. It is getting closer and closer, and as it approaches the more insurmountable the challenge seems. I finally finished ALMOST all of my packing...so that's good. As far as that 80 lbs. limit that I am supposed to have...I just have to say, HAH!

Well, I have had a wonderful time home. I got to babysit my nephew, hang out with my sis, relax, spend quality time with the 'rents...overall it's been great. I am sad to leave, but I know it isn't forever...

Anyway, this has been a bit of a long post. I guess I am feeling a bit more apprehensive and scared as it approaches. I leave for NYC on Wednesday and to Philly on Sunday for training. Let the games begin!