A New Outlook

So it's been a bumpy road but I had a "come to Jesus moment" last night and I have an entirely new outlook on my race, or rather, the outlook I've been trying to achieve from the start.
This triathlon is not meant to be a competition for me, it is not meant for me to prove anything to anyone except myself and that only goes so far as "I know I can do this." This triathlon is supposed to be fun. Yes, I said fun. These are the sort of things I do for fun, namely, challenging myself to do something new. Now over the course of my training I've been telling myself that my only goal is to cross the finish line with a smile on my face. The thing is, that has never really been my motivation at the gym or on the road but rather "I have to do this and do it well." I am oftentimes my worst enemy, holding myself to perfection at all times, not asking for help when I might need it and ultimately attempting to do everything on my own without allowing myself to make mistakes along the way. Basically, this has been the tone of my training and it's beaten me up rather well.
Last night something clicked. Something in my head finally made the connection and I'm feeling much better about the race and not freaking out about it as much as I was before. This is not a competition for me, this is a challenge and my ultimate goal is finally what I always tried to say it was, to cross the finish line with a smile on my face. Competition can be achieved in my second tri, if I find this to be a sport I'm generally interested in investing time and effort into.
That being said, the specs for the race are as follows for those who would like to come out on a lovely July morning and watch me bumble my way through a 1/2 mile of swimming, 17 miles of biking and 3.2 miles of running. I'd love to hear your voice (over the sound of my own grunts and moans haha) from the sidelines.

I'm participating in the Philadelphia Women's Triathlon. I will know the day before exactly what wave I'll be in and you can see the courses at the following web site: CGI RACING
It's Sunday July 8th, the first wave starts at 8am
It's in the Art Museum district with the swim taking place in the Schuylkill and the biking/running portions following MLK Blvd. and Kelly Drive.

EDIT: And here are a few BEAUTIFUL (not to mention inspiring) photos from the Philadelphia Triathlon