My first triathlon in 10 years

The last triathlon I completed was in 1998, a few months before my twentieth birthday. I wasn’t ready for it. I hadn’t trained properly, and after a speedy swim, I sucked wind on the bike and the run. If I remember correctly, people flew by me on those portions (they were encouraging though—“You can do it!”), and I walked a good portion of the run. I didn’t enjoy the experience at all, and I vowed never to do another triathlon again.

In my twenties, I tried some new kinds of competition—co-ed softball, 5K’s, 10K’s, lake swims, duathlons, and even a half marathon.

A few months ago, I thought it might be fun to try the tri again. I like training for things. I enjoyed training for the half marathon, particularly the feeling of satisfaction and wonder as I tallied more and more miles on my weekly long runs. And I liked training for this triathlon; I liked getting on a bicycle again and going for long rides with Andy on the weekends. I liked pushing myself to run hill workouts around my neighborhood. I liked my weekly bike-run workouts, during which I’d ride a stationary bike at the gym and, upon finishing, immediately run 2-3 miles. And, of course, I liked swimming.

Today’s race went well. First of all, my new bike rack worked beautifully. Then, I arrived at the race site in time to secure one of the last few parking spots (anyone who arrived later had to drop off her bike, drive to another location, and be shuttled back to the race site---yuck!). As for the race itself, I’m happy. My swim went well, although I had to get a little aggressive with some pushy swimmers who kept crowding me. The bike portion was great; the rock star triathletes passed me with ease, but I passed a bunch of people myself, thanks to my “speed workouts” with Andy on the weekends (He’d shout, “C’mon, wiener! Let’s go!” And I went.). I was pretty pooped on the run, but I ran the whole way, and I crossed the finish line fast and feeling good.

Andy and Trent, of course, were there to cheer me on and take pictures. The race site was set up so that I could see them on every transition, plus twice on the run, so that was pretty cool. They were good sports, waking up before 7:00 to drive over for the start (I was up at 5:15.)

Now that I’ve lived more than three decades, maybe it’s time for me to become a three-sport athlete. I definitely plan to do another triathlon. Andy said he might, too. Who knows—maybe we’ll be able to convince Trent to join us.