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 :)

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.