I have a friend named Julie, and she’s kind of my hero.  Last year she decided to train for an Ironman Half Triathlon in Raleigh.  That is 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles of biking, and then running a half marathon.  (I was a total bonehead and wrote that she completed a full triathlon when she really completed a half triathlon.  Do your research first Colleen.)  I feel like people should be giving me awards if I run a couple of miles; I can’t even imagine.  She not only completed the race, she qualified for the Ironman Triathlon World Championships in Las Vegas, which is kind of mind blowing if you really think about it.  So she spent the last stretch of months training like a maniac and finally competed this past weekend.  A group of friends went along and were updating instagram with her progress, so I kinda got to watch her too.  My most favorite thing about the pictures is how happy she looked just to be there.  That, my friends, is one bad chick.  She is my official inspiration to get off my tuckus and get to the gym.  You can read more about her journey here.

All images taken from my friend Lindsay’s Instagram account