Nations Tri 2011

I'm coming to the end of my training for my "A" race - The Nations Tri on September 11,2011. I have been asked many times why i chose this race and my off the cuff response is "I'm running it with an old friend from high school".  Which WAS true until she just informed me she wasn't about to swim in the Potomac under trained and I SO understand!  So I'm fully expecting her and Barry to be my biggest cheerleaders and cheer me through my first Olympic Tri.  And if anyone else is in the DC metro area come on down and scream me on!

But I also choose this particular race because it is the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  A day I know we all remember as if it were yesterday.

I was in my new house in Sunnyvale, CA - had just moved in in August as my company has closed East Coast operations and relocated me from my home in Washington DC.  I had just spent the past couple of years living in Washington DC but commuting to NYC every Tuesday - Thursday.  I worked from home the rest of the week and went to UMD Business School on Monday and Thursday nights.  It was a fun and busy time in my life where little stood still.  That Spring of 2001 the Company was downsizing and closed my NYC Office but offered to relocate me to California.  So off I went.

On the morning of 9/11 my phone rang, I answered to hear Barry say "your country is under attack".  I turned on the TV in time to see the second tower hit.  My life changed at that very instant.  That day passed so slowly.  I remember speaking to my friend Jason who called me from his cell phone as he walked up Broadway.  It was surreal. I remember talking to my mom on the phone, in tears relishing the fact that I was NOT in NYC.  I remember going to a church and sitting for a long time.  I remember going to Neil's pub with Jeannine.  I remember being glued to the TV.  I cried a lot that day.  And over the days to come.  Life changed drastically for me after that day.  6 weeks after officially relocating me to California my company let me go, I returned to the DC area to finish my MBA full time in one semester so that I could graduate with my Part-time class in May of 2002.

When I saw that Nations Tri was being run on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I knew that had to be my "A" race.  I will never forget that day 10 years ago.  And on September 11th, 2011 I will race my heart out and I will dedicate this race to all those who lost someone that day, especially to my classmate and friend Michele who lost her brother that day.  I will utter those words as I'm entering the Potomac - Let's Roll.  And I will push myself in honor of all those who died.