The End of a Season

The end of a season

The official end to my 3^rd season as a triathlete – milestones like this are bittersweet.  I never enjoy hallmarks of the passage of time – as time and life seem to be flying by at breakneck paces.  It is, however, a great time to sit back, even if just for a minute and reflect on accomplishments.   I’m proud to say that I have worked really hard to make it to where I am in my level of fitness.  I had set several goals at the onset of 2013 that I have been able to check off one by one while staying healthy.

2013 Goals

·         To follow a structured, efficient training program 6 days/week for an average total workout time of 6-7 hours/week.  I have been able to sustain this commitment and it’s one of the main reasons for my successes this year.  I have a great coach who has designed training blocks month after month that have built upon my strengths and addressed some of my weaknesses.  I still have a lot of work to do and a lot to learn, but I feel good about the foundation I have.

·         To become comfortable riding/handling my new tri bike and improve my average sprint tri race pace to at least 20.0 mph.  I have proven both that you can buy speed AND that one’s engine is just as important as one’s equipment.  I became much more competitive on the bike this year and, although it’s still my weakest event, I am now towards the head of the pack instead of the middle during this leg of the race.

·         To participate in the USAT Age Group sprint tri nationals in Milwaukee and qualify for a spot on Team USA for the 2014 ITU World Championships.   Pleased to report that I checked this off the list in August – headed to Edmonton, Canada in 2014!

·         To complete an Olympic distance triathlon.  I did the Rev3 Half Full Olympic triathlon in Columbia, MD just two weeks ago.  It’s a little less than twice the distance of a sprint tri – it was a beautiful course that can be described in two words – very hilly.  The weather was perfect and I really felt like I had a good race and really enjoyed it (as much as you can enjoy swimming 0.9 miles, biking 25 miles, and running 6.2 miles as fast as you can) – I finished in 2:38:21 and came in 1^st in my age group and 5^th overall female.  It was a great way to finish the season and prove to myself that even though I have only been able to train for the shortest triathlon distances, I have the ability to sustain the effort over longer periods of time…..thinking about adding a few of these distances to the schedule for next year now!

I’m looking forward to setting new goals for 2014.  I need to shave at least another 5 minutes off of my sprint tri time to compete with the “big dogs” next year.  There are some really fast 40-something Mommas out there – at Nationals, my age group was one of the most competitive and fastest on the course that day.  It’s exciting and a little intimidating, but, most of all, it’s very motivating to work harder and smarter to step up to the next level.  Wish me luck!

THIS is where you want to be

I have thought a lot about mantras.  Everyone says that you should have a mantra – something that will get you through a tough workout or training session.  Words that will rekindle the fire and allow you to regroup and finish the task with renewed strength.

I’ve come across some really good ones that I often borrow – my favorite is triathlete Chris McCormack’s “Embrace the Suck”.  It reminds me that success is not easy.  That even world champions like Macca have to talk themselves through the worst of it.  Importantly, in triathlon, that the people who can endure multiple levels of suffering are the ones who are successful.

But I wanted to have my own, meaningful mantra.  My own words.

So it came to me in my basement one dark winter night.  If you don’t know, many of my training hours are spent in my basement either on the treadmill or on my bike (thanks to the Green Monster trainer).  It’s not glamorous, but the basement strategy has improved my fitness tenfold.  Anyway, I was on my bike late at night, sweating profusely, legs burning, going nowhere fast, wanting to stop when it came to me as I was negotiating with myself to get off the bike.  No, I said outloud:

THIS is where you want to be.

I knew that even though it was painful, I wanted to be on that bike at that moment.  I wanted to become a stronger cyclist.  I wanted to be a better triathlete.  I wanted better fitness.  Even though I was so tired I wanted to cry, I knew that I wanted to be there – that I had to be there.

So the next day I printed off my mantra and hung it on the wall in front of my treadmill.  I also posted the USAT logo with the Age Group Nationals date to visually remind me that I really want to train well for my “A” race in Milwaukee….I want to be THERE on August 11^th and race-ready.  When I’m sluggish, wanting to bail out on a workout I say “THIS is where you want to be”.  When I’m in a race and start to question why in the world I PAID to torture myself out on the course, I quickly stop myself and say “THIS is where you want to be”.  It works.  It snaps me out of the negative zone I’m starting to fall into and I regroup.   Well, it probably doesn’t hurt that I often follow it with “Suck it up and get over yourself".  Whatever works, right?

THIS is where you want to be

Sprint Triathlon Age Group Nationals

August 11, 2013

Milwaukee, WI