Hysterical! What a great story...
Teared up when I saw your Dad waving your flag while waiting for you to finish. I have three daughters and I could completely relate with that shot. I'd have waited forever for one of then to finish.
Here's the result: you finished. And while you may never bite off more than you can chew again in the future (doubtful - lol), you've learned to push yourself when facing some fairly stiff resistance. Congrats to you!
Ah, that's so sweet of you!! I think my dad would also wait forever, so lucky us to have such great dads like you and mine :) And definitely a big learning about pushing myself. Thank you for your kind words :)