- will I ever get faster:
- will it ever get easier;
- will it ever be fun so I don't mentally quit the sport every step of the way?
I feel like I train pretty hard but I guess I really don't and I just think I do. I'm soooo sick of being so damn slow but in today's race there was no way I could have gone any faster - just wasn't possible. I left everything out there. So back to the question, "will I ever get faster?". Saturday was the day of one of my favorite races Rev3 Quassy - it was an Olympic distance (.9mile swim, 25 mile bike, 10k run) and this distance is not my favorite - it's sadly too far for me. I figured by this time in my triathlon "career" I'd love an Olympic distance - I thought this was going to be "my distance" but no such luck. I'm going back to Sprints and once I master that distance I'll reconsider coming back up to the big boy table.
My attitude should, in no way, take away from this race - Rev3 only does things top notch. No detail is overlooked from check in, to transition right down to the course signs and the course itself. The volunteers are like no other and the logistics are awesome. The swim was spectacular, the bike and run extremely hilly. It's just me that needs work.
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| Beautiful Lake Quassapaug Race Morning |
I've ridden this course 3 times before yet each time I seem to be shocked by the climbing involved. Last year this race was held during a monsoon which made the ride extremely difficult and dangerous. This year the weather was perfect and the scenery is beautiful in Middlebury CT. It was just hard - if it were easy everyone would do it - right?? I suppose but I'm always so hopeful it will be a little easier at some point. I was able to take off 10:00 from last year and add 1.31 average mph but I was expecting more, aren't I always? I was excited to see my max speed hit 40.2 - so far that's my personal high and I'm always trying to beat that, of course without trying to kill myself.
2013
| 1:50:07 | 1:50:07 | 13.99 mph |
2012
| 2:01:32 | 2:01:32 | 12.68 mph |
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| THE END of the bike!! |
This run course I've never done before - in year's past I've done a relay with my sister-in-law who this year decided closing on her new house was more important than racing with me. I figured I was ready for this 10k as I ran a 13.1 about a month ago, I did massive hill repeats with Matt his past week - how hard could it be? Famous last words - it was beyond hard. The only saving grace was that EVERYONE in front of me and behind me were walking and walking quite slowly. Finally past mile 4 it was downhill so I was able to move but it was such a steep downhill that it wasn't as easy as I'd have liked it. Of course at mile 5 we were going back up again but then I heard the announcer - the finish line was near. After hitting mile 6 I saw my sweet Dylan and Kevin waiting for me. They ran to the finish line with me to cross and the damn race was over! I finished it. They gave me the largest, heaviest finisher medal ever, a long sleeve tshirt and an ice cold, soaking wet towel. Ahhhh I did it!
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| Dylan finishing up with me |
Past the finish shoot I went right to the NormaTec booth to sit in the boots for some recovery - I really need to get a pair of those. To top off the race, the post meal is fab - hamburgers (my favorite meal of all time), hot dogs, mac and cheese, salad bar and a Pepsi machine!
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| Love! |
While the tempature was quite warm, the entire course was shaded so the heat wasn't a terrible issue. The ice water and ice at the aid stations were awesome - just the landscape and the athlete that need some work.
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| Very large finisher medal! |
Bring on Wyckoff - thankfully we're doing a relay and I"m only running but then the following week is Philadelphia Tri where I'm doing the whole thing. But it's a Sprint - since now I'm a Sprint Kind of Girl.
Nice job!
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