That was the question I got when I spoke to my son minutes before transition closed. He is use to being with me at these races and all those other times racing didn't seem to cause him to stop and question. But this time it meant I wasn't with him so he asked, "Mom, why are you racing?" Son: YOU ARE MY WHY!! He of course doesn't realize that just the night before I was sitting on the floor of my garage crying over that same freakin' question! Because it was his first night away from home without me and while I know he needs it because all children if in a safe environment deserve to spend time with both parents. But I felt like my heart was missing and because of that felt like I had no heart for this race. Without heart what's the point right? Alas there is a happy ending to this
 |
| Old Blue |
story.
Friday Night:
1. Ate a HUGE burrito as my "carb loading" New Mexico style
2. Met with a contractor because my son walked up to me earlier that week with a chunk of the stucco in his hand asking "what is this mom?" so I decided it was finally time to give in and break the bank getting the house re - stuccoed.3. Finally got around to putting my race wheels on my bike.
4. Struggled switching the breaks out but finally got them only to realize the back break wasn't working and I thought I broke it! I couldn't get the cable to reattach!!!!
5. Texted people in a panic just to vent! My dad was 3 flights and 2 days away, my brother was at the dojo and wouldn't be out until past my bedtime. The friend I new was an expert on my type of bike turns out I never hit SEND on that message. The friend who offered to help I refused to let help me because at this point it wasn't about the bike! It was about me being angry at myself for waiting until the night before to do this, about not being able to do it on my own or figure it out on my own, about my heart being broken because my son wasn't in the garage with me asking me the millions of questions he loves to ask like why are you changing the wheels mom, how do the breaks work, why are they broken.
6. Cops came over to the neighbors house and I'm their emergency contact in case their alarm goes off but I didn't remember where I put their password so even though I had been in the garage the whole evening and knew no one was in their house I couldn't tell them not to send the cops without the password.7. Dog ran out the door while I was speaking to the cops.
8. Recovered my dog.
9. Switched my bike seat to my old bike "Old BLUE" and decided to race on my old bike and just keep fingers crossed that it held up.
10. Packed my tri gear. exhausted went straight to bed. Fell asleep 1 hour later. Nightmares about my brakes failing on the course all night.
11. Woke up bright and early and car pooled with a friend to the race. Forget he had his dog in the backseat and left my bagel on the seat when we ran into the gas station so back in I went to buy a granola bar since my breakfast had been eaten.
12. At this point I was laughing at the hilarity of the entire situation.
13. Remembered my WHY! Son you will never see your mom give up! Even if I fail I will fail trying.
So the race. Super small race which makes me a little sad as it was getting to be a decent sized race for NM standards anyway. I've been doing this race for over 10 years on and off. I don't want to see all the races I grew up with fade away so I hope this one sticks around even after switching who runs it.
About the race: Socorro Chile Harvest Triathlon
1. Seeded swim start.
2. Actually stuck to the time I put down. Had to fight a few crowds in the lane due to those who didn't stick to the time they put down.
3. Bike switched the bike course this year which added a few bumps and a little hill on the course but over all was super happy with it, I mean it was 12 miles so my plan was simple just go all out and worry about the snot and slobber after wards. Averaged 19.43 mph on good old BLUE!! My trusty bike held up. I only missed my new bike on the downhill.4. I could feel it getting a little hot and I was slightly dehydrated since I'm not smart and usually don't drink or eat during any sprint.
5. Sipped some Gatorade and poured water on my head for the run.
6. Transitions were super slow this time! over 1 min. each
7. Pretty flat run some on dirt. Found someone to talk and run with the last mile and a half and we pushed each other.
8. Finished strong and happy.
I managed to pull off first in my AG which doesn't really mean much in the sense of triathlon racing because it was a small race and the fast women I am use to seeing in my AG weren't there. BUT I will take what I can get. What made me the happiest is I had a trophy to take home to my son as it helps for him to have something tangible to see and understand that I did do a race. I gave him my trophy and told him this is for you, I won this for you, so you know your mom is strong even when she doesn't want to be. He was only interested in the fact that the trophy was shiny and he could make faces in it which made him laugh! :-) |
| Post race dinner with my favorite guy! |
My new trisuit was so COMFY I loved it. Not to mention I got lots of comments on how it looked people love the design. Thanks Team LC!!!! and Santini!!!Oh and the bike, easy fix, thanks to my friend for pointing this out when he saw the bike. Obviously I wasn't thinking straight the night before! So note to self: prep bike at least a week before race next time and NO PANICKING!!! Must remain calm!
HAPPY TRAINING!!!
