top 10

happy to report that I made my goal of Top 10 in the See Jane Run Tri. I sorta always thought of this race as a Tri For Fun which it is, but thought it would be a no brainer to do. Until I started training. Hmmm, my game just isn't what it used to be! Anyway, I decided to go onto a training plan and stick to it. I really wanted to give it a good effort to see if I could actually commit to the plan. About Week 4 I did the practice tri - man, that hurt. I felt horrible on the run, i was achy everywhere and had hardly any endurance. that was my wake up call. People who get top 10 took this tri seriousily. it wasn't tri for fun for them (unless they are already at peak). I knew I had to train like I wanted it. next 2 weeks I did intervals working on getting faster but only in the run was i seeing improvement. My swimming felt as if it was getting worse. But I kept on. Week 6 I totally slacked working through lunch for a presentation to give at work - but it didn't sabotage me. I picked up where I left off and forgave myself for slacking. Finally the final week - week 7, did the swim, run, and bike on 3 days and felt great for all. I was ready. I hoped.

The race was fun, looking back, but I took it a lot more seriously than i wanted to. I really wanted to have fun but my competitive side took the best of me. And I wanted top 10. In reality I thought top 15 was all I could get. But what they hey, I gave it a go.

Swim, great start until I tried to set my watch while swimming (which probably cant be done by the way!), bike, well done - sprinted when i needed to and passed up anyone who had a 4x on their leg (40-44 age group -i.e. my competitors) all while saving something for the run which I worried would hurt. My plan was to take it easy until I got into the groove and then see if i could push the pace. My plan worked! By the end I was able to kick it in full throttle and sprint to the finish. Day of race results were all jacked up and I wrongly computed my finish as 11th. I went home defeated but accepted my results - i didand felt better than i thought and that was the best I could do. Today Michelle emailed me and told me the results were online and i ended up 10th in my age group!! woohoo! and to make it even sweeter, i got 1st on the bike. "I like it! I like that party hat!"

Not a bad birthday present!