Patriot Triathlon Recap

I haven't been on here lately.  I can't even explain why.  Just a plain and simple no desire to write, recap, or ruminate. I didn't even recap my last race (Socorro Chile Harvest Sprint) I KNOW a triathlete not wanting to talk about their triathlons and how they should shave 10 seconds off their transition and how their calf was tight on the run if not they totally could have done better!!!!  Call the doctor right?!?!!

Well, rest assured I am still boring people with my tales of triathlon just in different ways.  I do find myself stopping and not going into too much detail, not really sure why.  But here I am again.  Last weekend I did the Patriot Sprint Triathlon in Rio Rancho and had a blast!  My parents graciously watched my son and we didn't even make him go along this time so that he could go have some fun at the trampoline and bumper boats!  It was a windy night and I had very little sleep with my dog running in and out all night fighting off the attack leaves in the back yard and barking at the wind!!  But thankfully the wind started to settle down as the sun came up.  The swim was a down and back in each pool lane seeded swim start for 400.  It was crowded in the time I put down as usual.  But I'm happy to say I still finished in the time I had put down (8 mins) even though the guy in front of me said oh yeah the last two races I finished in 10 and 12 mins, then why the HECK did you put down 8!!!!!!!!!!   There was a lot of congestion due to this but I managed to get through it without elbowing or kicking anyone.  There was an 11 year old girl behind me that seemed a little nervous and this was her first race and she was doing the swim portion for a team.  She was very polite and eager and I was excited for her.  I talked her through her nerves as we waited our turn to start and told her it'd just be a matter of time before she was doing the whole thing.  She said but I'm slow I'm only at 8 mins.  I said look around you we're all slow then because we all put that down.  You are young you will gain experience and training and you will soon blow us all away!!!  I explained how I started at her age and didn't even think I liked triathlon.  But look at me now I can't get enough of it no matter how "slow" I may be.

The bike was hilly and some head winds but I had fun!  I felt good during the entire bike leg.  The only thing was there was more traffic than I like to see on a bike course but there's not much you can do about that.  There was one round about where I asked where do I go and the volunteer yelled RIGHT but there was a car blocking me!  So it was either go straight and run into the car in front of me, go right and run into the car blocking my path, or turn right a little later and shared the same exit that the other bikes still going out towards the turn around were using.  So I did the last and luckily didn't cause any issues with the other cyclists.  Sheesh people are you really in that big of a hurry that you'd rather be stuck in the middle of a group of cyclist than just wait for an opening?

The run was HILLY and partly on dirt.  Again though I had fun!  I was slow but felt like I gave it a good push.  I kept my head down and just kept going.  I managed to sprint the hardest I've ever sprinted at the end of a race all to pass someone in my age group at the last minute but then remember we had different start times so it didn't really matter.

I managed to get 1st in my AG again I realize it all depends on who's out there that day.  I think I was 56 OA M&F out of just over 200.   But it sure does feel good to show up with the medal and have my son ask me can I wear it?  I even had time to get a quick complimentary massage and man was I tight after that race so this felt really good!  Saw lots of friendly faces out there and as always was happy just to get to participate in a sport I love and for a team that truly supports me!  Team LC

Some cool new gear to help me stay hydrated on the bike thanks to another great sponsor TACX!!