If you can't win the big things, take pride in the small accomplishments

After a disappointing end to my triathlon season in mid-September, I decided to take some time off. I usually have a hard time being inactive, but this time it was easy. I was mentally drained, physically exhausted and I had a busy two weeks of traveling planned: Kansas City for work and an amazing trip to the Bahamas with my family the week after.

During this time, I was able to reflect on the season as a whole. After sulking and feeling sorry for myself initially, I compared last year’s results to this year’s. And you know what? I improved by leaps and bounds. It’s so easy to get caught up on one bad race. Last year I never made it on the podium. Not even an age group award. This year I qualified for the US Triathlon National Championships (I opted to do another race instead…expenses made the ultimate decision). I also placed in every race I competed in, including a 2nd place overall finish at the Queen of the Crest Tri at the Jersey Shore and a surprising 4th place finish at Quantico. And I had the fastest female run split in the last four triathlons I did {including a 19:37 5K at the end of a sprint tri in Hampton}.

I’m not saying all this to brag….I have a longggg way to go before I earn bragging rights. But it paints a much larger picture. It shows how far you can come in a year with focus, motivation and consistent training. So although my last race pretty much sucked and I nearly dropped out a hundred times, I’m proud of the season I had. All the hours spent in the pool (staring at that black line), the countless brick (bike-run) workouts … they were all worth it! Note to self – always look at the bigger picture.

With the season behind me, I recently started focusing on road racing again. I hadn’t done a road race since April! In the past I would usually do a few 5ks/10ks and a half marathon during the summer. I was much more of a “running is my priority, swimming and biking is secondary” kind of athlete. This year (after the marathon) I decided to focus solely on triathlons: cut back run mileage and spend more time in the pool and on the bike. Since I mostly focus on Sprint and Olympic-distance triathlons, there’s no need for me to do super long runs. In fact, I think my longest run this summer was around 10 miles…that’s probably about all I could’ve handled with the heat/humidity anyway.

There were days when training felt unbearable!

With a half marathon (13.1 miles) on the schedule for October 18^th, I had to kick my butt into gear. Last week (a few days before the race) I was extremely nervous; more nervous than usual. For once, I felt completely under trained. I worried that if I went out too fast I might end up walking, or worse, not finish. I decided to put a plan in place and adjust my expectations to something reasonable.

A look back at last year

I trained hard for this race and broke the 1 hour 30 minute mark for the first time.

Went out at 6 min 52 sec per mile pace and held it for 13.1 miles.

9th woman.

This year I decided to go out with the 1:35 pace group (7:15 mile pace) for the first two miles and then get faster with each mile. {I would have been okay with a 1:30:xx and ecstatic with a time faster than last year (1:29:56)}

Splits

mile 1    7:17.... "slow down. don't go out too fast." ~my thoughts

mile 2    6:58

mile 3    6:55 ... I think I was in 8th (for women) at this point in the race

mile 4    6:47

mile 5    6:33 ....I felt good so I decided to pick up the pace and pass a few women

mile 6    6:44

mile 7    6:36 ....Spotted the 5th female (with a group of men). Decided to catch up and run with them

mile 8    6:40

mile 9    6:46....At this point in the race I was completely satisfied with 5th and what looked to be a sub 1:30 half marathon

mile 10  6:37....But I still felt great so I decided to run the last 5k as hard as I could.

mile 11  6:46....and then there was a hill and a direct head wind :( I began to hurt...really bad.

mile 12  6:40.....I spotted the 4th place woman (and another hill). I put my head down and went for it.

mile 13  6:20.....My last mile happened to be my fastest mile.

This Year

Over a minute faster than last year.

4th woman.

I was ecstatic with my time and place. I feel like with proper preparation I can go a lot faster. Next up... a 5k on Halloween and then another half marathon in November.

Daily Press (local newspaper) Article on the race :)