The night before my my mom caught me rambling about all the reasons why I should have a great race the next day. I kept telling her “I know I always tell you I feel like I can win it but I REALLY feel good about this race in the morning”. I don’t know if she believed me but I was right.
Since I grew up from being young and chubby, I have not known what it was like to be really flat. The beginning of this season I was far from the triathlete that I, my parents, my coach, and all my competitors were used to seeing. I was mediocre in every discipline. And just to make the situation seem even worse, I was training really hard and not seeing any improvement. It was not as if I was sitting on the couch and expecting improvement.
The day of my birthday I finally felt different. For three months I was flat. But I was confident that the next day would show different results.
Immediately upon entering the transition area, I heard thunder. I turned around to see an enormous thunder cloud hanging nearby. Within minutes it seemed the whole sky fell on us. The race was immediately postponed thirty minutes.
Despite the change of plans, the goal was still the same. I wanted to end my reign of getting third in this race. Thanks to my mental coach, Dana Blackmer, I was trained to not lose my concentration with this distraction.
In the pool, I cruised. My flip turns were easy and I felt completely comfortable in the water.
On the road I was soon passed by a faster cyclist and I did not let him out of my sight for the rest of the ride.
In transition I struggled with putting on new flimsy racing flats and a cluster of riders on my same rack.
Expecting cramps and heavy legs like I had in my earlier season races, I was surprised to find my legs effortlessly flowing under me on the run. Startled, I picked up the pace and did not slow.
After making the last turn on the way back to the finish, my body decided to finally fight back. I unpleasantly dry heaved for the last quarter mile.
The fifty year old winner and I covered the two ends of the age spectrum.
Finally I could say it. I’m back. It was a personal record for me on this course by over a minute.
Later that afternoon, I raced a thirty mile local cycling race. At the start of the last 1.3 mile lap, I made a move but it did not stick. I was reeled in and finished the race at the back of the field. My teammate won the race.
A good celebration of the first day as a nineteen year old.