Mojo...is that you?

It could be a passing feeling but I do think, perhaps, that I got my MOJO back this past weekend.  Ever since Rev3 Knoxville, I've been on a downward triathlon spiral - it  hasn't been pretty.  My Training Peaks is empty, empty, empty.  I think over the past 2 weeks I've been on my bike twice, not one run, not once in the pool - pathetic.  The only reason I have not officially quit triathlon is bc I've already paid for Rev3 Quassy and am doing that race as a relay - that means someone else is counting on me (and mostly bc I already paid for the race and hotel room so I HAVE to go now!).

Sunday was the Quassy Preview ride - we all met in Quassy and rode the race course.  It was a beautiful day, bright sunshine with a great course.  Unlike Knoxville, these massive uphill climbs had many downhills as well which were awesome to fly down and make up some speed.  It's that sort of speed on a downhill to bring back all joy in sport.  Of course that day I did not swim before or have a run after but it was still a great ride and got my excited for my upcoming race.

That was written last week and now we are a mere 3 days from my next race - again it's a relay, AMEN!  This week also opened the town pool which is outside and 50 meters - a joy to train in.  No more smelly indoor pools for the next 3 months.  Much less turning around and a better way to swim train as you get to actually stroke for a much longer time before turning around.

I'm hoping my excitement is here to stay and I will have an amazing race season this summer - bring on Rev3 Quassy!

This photo is from Knoxville and I was beyond miserable in this picture - usually I look for the photographer so I can look all sporty spice in my photos but I missed this guy as I was hoping heat stroke would finally take over.  This weekend it will be 68 degrees and raining which is almost perfect racing weather!

1 bad race + 1 long trip = 2 years

Tuesday was the 2nd anniversary of my very first blog post. I reread it. It was extremely uplifting and happy while Monday was filled with self doubt and the strong desire to quit.  I always imagined getting better and better as each new season begins but reality punched me hard in the face this weekend.  Sunday was my first race of the season - Rev3 Knoxville Olympic - it was a rough race for me.  Last year this race was my first OLY distance race and I was so nervous the whole drive down (all 12 hours) but this year I just knew I'd crush last year's time.  Not only was the race a billion times harder but I finished 6 minutes slower than last year.  I came in 2nd to last in my age group - to say this race was a monster failure would be an understatement.

I've now spent the past 2 days wallowing in my own self pity and trying to figure out how much I can get when I sell my bike.  I have more triathlon gear than Chris McCormack and was hopeful I could make some money on the deal.  But now that 2 days has gone by I'm starting to see how this race was not a metaphor for my life - or at least I'm trying really hard.

Today I went over the exact times comparing this year to last years race and it seems perhaps it wasn't as bad as I originally thought.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Finished the swim 3:00 faster than last year;
• Transition was 4:25 slower this year;
• however, BIG however here, they moved T1 much farther away than last year;
• 5:01 slower on the bike;
• :38 slower on the run;
• 20 degrees hotter than last year
• Overall - it comes down to Transition!  I added 5:14 to this year's race and 4:25 of that was transition.

And just like that, I found those 5:14 minutes and it wasn't so bad.  The water felt like ice cubes and the run felt like being on the face of the sun.  I think those are just excuses that people make for a poor performance.  When all is said and done - you get out what you put in.  I did not put enough in - didn't train enough, long enough, hard enough.  I deserved every one of those extra minutes plus some.  As the saying goes "Train Fast, Race Fast" but since I train slow and not very seriously then that's how my races will always end up unless I change my ways.  Last week I tried to teach Maddox a lesson that he was not allowed to quit baseball just bc he struck out 3 times.  He needed to practice and work hard - quitting bc you aren't good is not an option.  Don't you just hate eating your own words??

On a high note, my sweet NLLP took 1st place (of course he trains so hard everyday - lesson learned).

24 days left until the next race but thankfully I will not be running in the next one - bring on the RELAY!