Triathlon Season Coming To An End

It's been a great ride, but the local triathlon season is coming to an end. With no more races scheduled within short driving distance my "Summer of Tri" has come to a close. The last two, the Holcomb Du/Tri and the Lake Scott Triathlon, have been a challenge both mentally and physically. To say I didn't train properly for them is an understatement. We had our granddaughters, age 6 and 3 for the week before the Holcomb race and went on a short vacation the week before the Scott race. I wouldn't change a thing but it did affect my readiness and mind set for both those races.

Holcomb Du/Tri
Running after two little girls can wear anybody out and I'm no exception. A neighbor girl came down a few mornings so I could get a few workouts in, but nothing at the level that I had been working out before the Big Pool Tri. I wasn't excited about this race even though it is run by my very good friends at the Holcomb Rec. They do a super job of bringing newbies along and there were a lot of rookies in the race. I performed as well as I could and set a nice time but finished in the lower part of the pack. It's frustrating to get beat by someone who on a whim decided to try a triathlon. It's not as if she was a couch potato and way out of shape, but still.

Lake Scott Trathlon
It's been hot here. Darn hot. So for the first time ever I was able to talk my hubby into a short getaway to somewhere cool. It was a wonderful cool four days, but it didn't allow any time for training. I did run one morning but again, not up to the level that I had been training before the Big Pool. So when race day rolled around I knew it would not be my best effort. On top of that, we learned that part of the ride would be over gravel roads. The reports were that it was very rough with washboard bumps through most of the 1 1/2 of dirt. We had to ride two loops of this so that meant 3 miles of rough tough road. Add to that lots of hills and I was not looking forward to it. The swim was posted at 300 meters but the time they posted for my swim was ridiculous so I stepped it off on my own and it was actually a 400 meter swim. I was not planning on that either. The run was again over the rough dirt road and I ended up running the flat and downhills and walking the uphills. Add all that together and I finished just under my target at 1:38:58. My shoulders are aching from holding onto my handlebars so tight but at least my teeth have stopped rattling.

Wrap Up
I'm proud of what I've accomplished this summer. I'm a triathlete. I'm still not fast and never will be, but I will always be able to claim that title. The turtle is now my mascot and just like the turtle, I know I'll get there eventually no matter what. A few 5K races are coming up and I'll work on my run to try and build my stamina. I want to keep swimming and riding at lest once a week so I'll keep busy. Claudia B. wants me to do a triathlon in September but I think I'm done for the year. My body is tired and so is my mind. I start back to work next week and life will settle back into routine. Will I do tri's next year? Probably. But as my friend Traci W. told me, there is only one first. Turtle Power!