SWIM - BIKE - RUN

I just completed my last triathlon of the season and boy did it test me both mentally and physically. Some races you feel great and others make you question your sanity. I had the latter. Typically I don't start struggling with exhaustion and negative thoughts until well into the race (pretty close to the finish line). This time, however, it began early on ... with the swim! You see that triangle thing way out yonder? Well that's a buoy.

You have to swim around those, with a bunch of other people, kicking and punching. And if you're lucky there will be waves or chop and you'll have trouble seeing them. And if you are really lucky it will be raining. Must have been my lucky day! I had e) all of the above.

The calm before the storm. Literally.

I generally like river swims. They are usually pretty calm, but this time was different. Before the gun went off, the clouds started rolling in and with them came wind and rain. It was the choppiest, hardest swim I've ever done. I felt like no matter how hard I swam I wasn't getting any closer to shore.

When you can't see and almost end up swimming into rocks.

#embarrassing #amateur

After being totally exhausted from swimming nearly a mile in turbulent water, rain coming down, and knowing I still had to bike 25 miles and run 6 miles, I thought about calling it a day. But then I reasoned with myself, "just make it to the bike, pedal for a mile, see how you feel".

On to the bike I went.

#staypositive

About two miles into the bike ride the rain stopped. I took that as a positive sign and kept pedaling along. I knew my overall time was going to be a lot slower because of how long the swim took so I decided to test my fitness and go all out on the bike. For me, the bike is the hardest of the three (swim, bike, run) disciplines. It's my ultimate weakness. But I've been devoting a lot more time to improving my turnover and essentially my speed. Apparently it's paying off, I knocked 4 minutes off my previous best time :) :) :)

Heading out to the run course. Very scenic. 

Lovely view of the port-o-potties.

The run is always my favorite part of the race. Not this time. I was in P-A-I-N! All the ferocious pedaling I did completely killed my legs. For the first time I wondered how I was going to get through 6 miles. I wanted to stop soooo bad. I had to start playing mental games in order to keep going..."just make it to the next mile", "drink some water and you'll feel better", "you are stronger than you realize", and so on. At mile 4 I told myself "2 more miles isn't so bad." I also knew how crappy I would feel after the race if I gave up. The regret I would feel just wasn't worth it.

In pain and looking for the finish line.

I did it! I finished!

#nevergiveup

Although my overall time was nowhere near my goal, I somehow managed to have the fastest run split (for females) and placed second in my age group. As many times as I contemplated walking, stopping, dropping out, I am so happy I didn't! The thing is...you may feel like you are going in slow motion, like you are not going to make it, but every little step forward is a victory both mentally and physically. If you can just find ways to stay positive, believe, and push forward you might surprise yourself.