This year I got talked into doing another triathlon! Ever year I tell myself it was fun, but I am ok not to do it again... that obviously didn't last long. This was the third time doing the Woman of Steel TRI, second triathlon with Nikki and my first with Tina and Jill. I knew what to expect for the race so I didn't spend much (or any!) time really training. I had good intentions in the beginning and Nikki and I ran a couple times around the neighborhood and spent a couple trips to the rec center to swim laps but I felt like I was going out on this cold for sure. I knew I could get through it so I wasn't worried, I was just along for the ride and to have fun with the girls. It was totally different this year for me and I actually enjoyed it more. I didn't have the anxiety and nervous stomach the night and morning before like normal and my body didn't hurt like it normally does either. The only thing I can contribute that to is my lack of training! I wasn't feeling pressured to beat scores, I didn't push my body in training to be tired, so over all I felt more accomplished getting through it all.
Seems like this race always bring some sort of uncomfortable weather. This year it was the wind and rain!! Swimming is my favorite part of the whole thing so I was just grateful there was no lightning to force them to cancel that part and add more running (like they did the first year!). Once I was finished with my swim and done with my first lap on the bike the wind and rain picked up and my face and hands were freezing as we were riding head on. Because of how they alphabetize the transition area Tina and I were right next to each other. As I was finishing with my bike and coming back into the transition area, Tina was finishing her swim. It was fun to see her and cheer her on as she was starting her bike and I was starting the run. But what makes it more fun is to see my cute little family fighting the cold just to give me the few seconds of cheers as I lap by them throughout the bike and run. This year we even had our good friend Rachel cheering us all on which added to the support. What a good friend she is! Through serving in young womens Nikki, Rachel and I have become really close friends so sharing little memories like this together just makes things that much sweeter. Friends like them don't come around very often! I remember my second year doing this TRI, but my first year with Nikki, I was having a hard time with the run at the end. She was just shortly behind me as I was finishing my last mile. She was able to catch up to me and we ran the whole way in together. What a sweet moment we shared as we crossed the finish line together. So this year, we were hoping for the same thing. I looked back so many times hoping I would see her close, only to keep plugging away on my run alone. As I got closer I gave up on the idea of finishing together and just ran it in.... only to have Nikki just seconds behind me. I was so bummed! Luckily I was still right by the finish line to giver her a big sweaty hug!
Now that its over again, I am glad its over and it was lots of fun, but again, I am ok not to do it again.... we'll see how long that lasts though. Good job girlies... Thanks for encouraging my lazy butt to do this again!
Once the times were listed I quickly made a graph of my scores throughout the years. The first year times are off because the canceled the swim, so rather than swim, they added a mile run and then finished the race like normal with bike and run. Considering my overall times are only minutes apart I came to the conclusion that training for me isn't worth it! I will definitely take the 3 minutes slower.
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