In 7 years of doing triathlon I have never had a flat tire during a race!
So there is a first time for everything and well…it is kind of embarrassing…don’t laugh…I was not sure how to change it. I have tubular tires and have practised changing a flat on them ONCE in 5 years and was not confident that I could change it and have it be secure so I pedaled along with a slow leak, refilled it a few times and then TECH support found me on course and helped me out. (Thanks Bike Barn!) So I figure I lost 30-40 minutes on the bike. I felt pretty silly. I struggled mentally with whether or not I was going to continue at all but basically forced myself to keep going. When I got to the transition, I took my time, went to the bathroom, tied my shoes carefully and grabbed my gel and swallowed some Vitamin I. As I left the transition area I was cheered on by friends and that kept me going. I had a good cry but I kept going. I was not looking forward to a half marathon. I was not looking forward to a 6 hr finish time…Oh my sorry little, big ego. I always learn something while racing! This time: the importance of being prepared. I told a few people along the way to this race that I was testing the “How little can you train” theory, ha ha. One thing you cannot skimp is being prepared in the knowledge and familiarity of your equipment and race day preparations and routine. My bike was not exactly well tuned or maintained and I as not as comfortable on my bike this year as in past years because I just have not been riding much. My morning race routine was not followed as usual and for that matter I did not really focus hard on having a set schedule for the pre-race prep. It makes me appreciate how prepared I have been in the past. I am proud I finished. I had visions of telling people I had not finished and did not like that scenario! It may seem silly but I wanted to make Bob & Liv proud too. There you have it.
We, Bob, Liv and I camped at the race site. We had a great time. We were with a large group of friends who were racing and also spectating. It was a great experience to be with them and share the time with them. I am very lucky to have such a talented and fun-loving group of friends to race and train with. Not to mention my good friend Alex who was Liv's care-giver while Bob and I slugged it out on the race course.
I am still happily supporting TYR, SMITH Optics, North Shore Athletics, New Balance, Snow Covers. I have been sporting the gear they gave me last year since I did not race last year. I am chalking up the race season so far as experience an character building.
To make a difference for future races I will need to find a greater focus for my training sessions. My ability to balance my focus between being MOM and being a focused while training is still being challenged. It is all good. I am LOVING being MOM. I also love racing and training it is apparent now how much energy and attention it took for me to be successful in previous years.
My success is being measured on a different scale this year.
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