Willing to Tri

No songs this week – my lyrics transformation creativity has run dry

Way back in 2002 I did the run leg of the Tupper Lake Half Ironman Triathlon with Scott S. (nice guy did the swim and the bike leg!). It was my first exposure to triathlons and I was sort of hooked. I say sort of only because in the intervening eight years. I’ve managed to complete five tri’s, including one this past weekend. I took a six year hiatus. Actually I don’t think that qualifies as a hiatus. I think that qualifies as “not doing those things any more”.

This time I have to say I think I bit off slightly more then I could chew (coach Scott C. is going to groan). You know that whole balance thing that I talked about a few months ago? Well add biking and swimming into the mix and the balance goes out the window along with the baby in the bath water. Now I know there are a lot of mom’s with more then one child who manage that balance. Me, well, not so good at it. I don’t know if it’s because despite my attempts at being truly organized, there are more occasions then I care to admit to when at 5pm I am still thinking about what to make for dinner, rather then making it before I need to rush off to the pool for my truly greatest multitasking achievement: swimming laps during Elizabeth’s swim lesson. Getting home at 6:45 with fifteen minutes before the hubby walks in the door with no dinner leaves three cranky people on the home front. I digress though.

Back to biting off more than I could chew and balance. So here’s the thing about tris that I noticed way back in 2002: they are incredibly family friendly. Granted, I have limited experience, but even on tv, you see the athletes surrounded by family, you see moms and/or dads running across the finish line holding onto two children and carrying one more (I am assuming the children are theirs and not rented for the photo op). Up at Tupper Lake, I saw parents high fiving their children as they crossed the finish line. Even at the smaller sprint tri’s that I did over the next year I saw similar scenes. Perhaps I got sucked into the “family spirit” when I signed up for my first ever Olympic distance tri. More then likely, not. I think I signed up because a) I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it and b) I wanted to prove that I could balance everything.

Well, the good news: I finished, so I proved that I could do it. The bad news? The balance part, for training that is, didn’t go so well. Here’s what I realized, after having a few days to mull over what didn’t work so well. Running – went fine from a training perspective. I’m a runner. It’s easy to lace up those sneakers and put on the right clothes for a run.

Swimming, that actually worked out too. I was on top of getting my daughter signed up for swim lessons at the high school and I was able to swim for the half hour she was attempting to swallow half the pool. When she got moved up to the next level, which meant an hour long class for her, I had plenty of time to do the workout and shower before her.

Triathlons have three disciplines you say? Right, the bike. That’s just not my thing. See, while I have a nice road bike from 2002, my gear is mostly summer. I wasn’t ready to invest in “winter” clothes if this wasn’t going to be something I pursued (my free wheeling spending habits have changed since I got married – that darn husband!). Plus I really couldn’t figure out how to get the necessary rides in while juggling child, part time job and volunteer work. I’m not complaining, but I really couldn’t justify spending money on a babysitter while I went out for a ride. It wouldn’t go over that well with above mentioned husband!

Needless to say I did not spend enough time on it, so I have only myself to be annoyed at. Oh and the course, which when I went back and reread the description used words such as “technical”, “hilly” and “fast descents”, Ehm, see I have this thing about only having 2 skinny wheels of rubber between me and the road as my unchecked speed goes over 30 miles per hour on a country road with some bumps and a dump truck flying by me. BRAKES!!!!!!

So Saturday, I didn’t have the time that I should have with more discipline, but given the heat and humidity (and wet roads from the downpour as we were standing around the transition area). But I did have my family there; my husband and daughter were waiting for me at the beginning of the finishers chute and I had my daughter run across the finish line with me and put her arms up as we crossed for the photographer. She doesn’t know that mama didn’t do her best, all she knows and cares is that mama finished and mama got a medal. That’s the best thing in the end.

Does this mean the end of my tri career? No. It’s sort of like when you finish your first marathon – you swear you’ll never do it again and then you begin analyzing the race and by Monday morning you are ready to sign up for the next one. There’s a sprint one in July which starts and ends at a beach and I know that bike and run course will be flat. And then there’s another Olympic distance one in August. It also starts and ends at the beach and the bike and run course are loop courses in a park along the coast – also flat. And the bike training? Well, I think I can figure that out this time, especially since the weather is nicer and it’s light out at 5:30am…. The swim – yep, swim lessons are on the calendar again for my daughter. They are still an hour long, so that means I get to swim.

Balance and focus. Balance and focus. Stay tuned for how it goes over the summer. I still haven’t actually signed up for these races, but the mere fact I am contemplating them... - The Gabster