I love those encounters where the mirror is put up for you and you get a chance to shine in the moment. It's so easy to remember our failures, our disappointments, the hard training days, and think only the places you want to go but haven't been yet. When someone or something comes up that makes you stop for a second, it sure is a good feeling.

A couple of weeks ago a woman in an online group (totally unrelated to anything athletic) was saying she hopes to run 4 miles by the end of summer, but can barely run 1 mile yet. I told her, if I went from not running a mile to running a marathon just over a year later, you CAN get to 4 miles. Her response was, "wow." That really made me stop and think. All I think of is how slow my marathon was, how slow I run regularly, how slow I ride, how slow my transitions are, all of the people that are faster... but you know what? I've come a long way. I tried on my wetsuit today, I had my husband zip me up. I said "does it look funny?" and he said, very matter of factly, "no, you look like a triathlete." Damn straight.

Congratulations on reaching your goals and setting new ones. Thanks for sharing your moment with us. You rock.