I won!

Yeah right!  But I did finish the Cyman.  It was picture perfect weather and record participants - about 380 - which is more than double last year's 180.

If my life was a movie and we were at the music montage - the song playing in the background would be Toby Keith's, "Good as I once Was".    If you're not a country fan, it goes a something like this..."I ain't as good as I once was, But I'm as good once as I ever was."   That about sums it up.

I haven't seen the official times or splits, but with my fabulous mathematical abilities, I am pretty sure my time was equal or a tad slower than my other TRI's.   I can't complain, or at least shouldn't, because I hadn't trained, had a sore back and knee and was a year older - so I couldn't expect any miracle results.  (But I always hope winged fairies carry me to a fast finish!)

I gotta' tell you, it was very useful to write the post on Saturday.  It helped me be clear and stay true to my plan.   When I saw the swim, all those thoughts went through my head.  I swear they add a buoy or two each year onto the end of the swim.  But, I just kept chanting to myself, "it's just a gentle warmup" and "fake it 'til you make it" over and over.  By a 1/4 in the swim, it was like I had been swimming all summer and I was catching other swimmers.   

The bike had the same hills and a SUPER DANGIT headwind.  The bike course is a 3-loop but with an extra out and back leg.   The coming "back" of the leg is up hill, into the wind and from an almost deadstop since it is a sharp turnaround.  My back and knee wanted nothing to do with that part of the ride.  But beyond that, Tiger (my bike) and I did ok on the first two loops, the last one...well....a bit slower - but not awful.   And, I did run out of the second transition!

And then the run.  The first part, the hilly trail run, kicked my butt, but I didn't stop.  The last mile was unpleasant.  I knew I was running slow and with each hill I lost a little steam and a little determination.   I was aggravated with myself for not finding all that magical speed that I had seen in past weeks - but it wasn't there today.   

One big change was that I didn't run with music.  You are disqualified if you run with any kind of music.   Now I know I would never place, even in my age group.  But today I learned the utter depths of my optimism because I decided not to wear the tunes, just in case there was even the most remote chance.  I laughed about that all the way home.  I guess hope springs eternal.

Next race.  Next time.  Next year.  Great part about our sport, is there is always another chance to see what you got. 

Thanks again for your good wishes and great thoughts - they really helped power me through the morning.

Photo of sign by rosieeeee

Picture of girl by miss gem

Comments

[Kent A]

Congrats -- you still swim, biked, and ran a great race! It is not always about beating someone else or making a PR, but sometimes just the things we learn are reason enough to race. Racing is always a better crucible for ourselves than even tough training experiences. Sorry you didn't place in your age group, but I think you did great just the same.

[Nancy]

Congrats!!! Not training for that swim and living to tell is a major feat! I was thinking about ya' -- great job!!

[Art Dinkin]

Nutin to say but, I'm proud of you! :)

[Tom]

What a great job! You make pain and setbacks seem so surmountable.

Who's looking at times? You put it all together and rocked.

So glad you didn't listen to tunes...you'd wind up on the sports scandal section of the DSM Register.

Proud of you!

[Brian]

Congrats! I love finishing running races, but there is something a little different about finishing a triathlon...

I wish I had completed a triathlon today, that would have been fun.

[aham23]

congrats. the amount of time and effort it takes to train for a tri is impressive. nice job!! later.

[Bob Gentile]

Woooo HOOOO Congrats AMY, way to get it done!! and I am a country fan and that's a good TK song!

[Amy]

Thanks so much for the congrats and !!! wishes. It is fun to share with you guys.

[Andria]

Congratulations! What a great accomplishment! Thanks for sharing the journey with us.

[Sandy]

Amy,

Congratulations!! Not every race renders a pr, but hey, you competed in what sounds like a very demanding tri. Keep up the great work, Amy!

Sandy
P.S. - Don't know how you managed to run, etc. without music. I'm so dependent on mine!