Spring Sprint, Work, Promotion, Work, SDIT, Work Calming Down...?

There is nothing better than doing a race with friends!

Time sure flies when you're having fun busy!  I can't believe I've done (2) races, Anna has promoted to junior high school and had her "Gravity Falls" themed birthday, we've been to 'Campland on the Bay" (Mission Bay) for a short vacation and passed by the 4th of July!  And all of that was squeezed in around work!




I've been on "the podium" but this is my first
time ever on a real podium!!! :-)

Let's start with work, since that has been a constant issue of balance since I went back to work 3 1/2 years ago.  The short and sweet of it... all of the tough hours and long days are paying off.  Our office has grown to the point where there are now 2 1/2 people doing my job and 3 people doing Jeff's job! :-)  Two new full time members have joined our team in the past few weeks and I am already seeing the benefits of the new "A Team!"  Jeff's schedule should start easing in the next few weeks.  More to come on these exciting work front changes!

Spring Sprint - The first of the KOZ Events Triathlon series for 2015.  About a month after Oceanside, I was nervous going into this race because I took almost (2) weeks off after that race, leaving (2) weeks to get back into the groove for Spring Sprint.  Add to that, the week of the race the bike course changed... from an easy two loop ride around Fiesta Island to a last minute course that included (6) sharp 180 degree turns!  Honestly, I have to say that this is not one of my favorite races.  The swim is a mosh pit... not exactly sure why it is soooo turbulent, but I am a very strong swimmer and I always feel like I am coming out of a fight for my life when I get out of the water for this race.  The bike course was sketchy, but not as tragic as I anticipated.  I do enjoy the run at this race.  The best part was several of my Tri It Together members were there racing, too.  I felt very strong as I finished this race and took 3rd place. 



Us... Anna's Promotion...

Anna and her good friend Jordan... both heading off
to the same Jr. High... couldn't be happier!!!

5th grade promotion and birthday weekend... Jeff and I can hardly believe that Anna is off to Junior High School and is now 11 years old!  Warning... parental brag alert... our little bug received Scholar of the Year for Language Arts and a Presidential Award for being in the top 3% of 5th graders in the nation.  Then after that celebration, our little self defined "nerd" had a "Gravity Falls" themed birthday party where all of the guests were requested to dress as a character of the show.  And, since everyone went all out, we took the group to see the movie, "Tomorrowland."  While Jeff and I were buying snacks for the group, the (teen) employees told us we were "the best parents ever" and "we are totally going to do this for our kids someday!"  We'll take that! :-)   The kids (and Jeff and I) had a GREAT time!

SDIT... still feeling the repercusions of Oceanside, and "only" working out 4-5 days per week, I felt I was ready for this race.  Race course prep... done.  Bricks... done.  And acutally, since Anna is trying out for swim team and in the pool several times a week, I've been swimming more (while she is training) than I have in the past (6) months. 

There were several new Tri It Together members doing this race, although the only one I was able to meet up with was Kay Mueller... and she is AWESOME (that is a whole different story... two year cancer survivor, doing her first international tri, and sooooo full of life she is so much fun to be around!)



Athena category winners... love these gals!

For the 2nd year, our whole family camped at Campland in Mission Bay for race weekend.  Although it is nice to be near the race venue for packet pickup and race morning, I've decided that being on vacation... in a tent... the night before a race, is not the best for race performance.  (Even going to bed at 8PM, with ear plugs, the crappy campers that partied until 2AM, when I had to be up at 3AM, made for a race night with no sleep.)

Morning transition... the Athena group of racers is smaller than the rest of the categories, and most of us know each other.  I LOVE seeing everyone race morning, setting up transition, hugs, catching up... even though we are competing against each other, we are all friends in transition.  :-) 


Let's do this... me in the middle, white cap...
 

Holy cow, was I hurting... but it sure looked like I was having fun!
 

I started the race feeling strong... came out of the water a bit later than I planned, but that was OK.  Started the bike... felt strong... slipped my chain twice (huh... I never do that in a race!), but felt good... until I saw my bike split as I was running into transition.  I was about 10 minutes off my mark.  What...?  I did T2... I saw Jeff just out of transition and he asked me how I was feeling.  I told him that I was giving it my all, but my splits were way out of whack... that I was going to need to slow down during the run and that was OK with me.  I don't think I've done a race where I pushed so hard, but my times were so far off.  The issue with that run was that I did slow down... and slowed down... and slowed down.  I had to stop and walk (4) times in the first mile and I knew this six miles was going to suck! 

I gave the run everything I had... that day... and I finished 4th.  I lost the podium by about 40 seconds.  What made me smile was when I was privleged to jump up and take the podium photos for my friends... Jackie Bickford in first and Catherine Gugala in third... come on... if someone was going to beat me, I want it to be my friends!

You can train for years, but what you have on race day, is what you have on race day... and that is what is great about our sport.  Do your best, because you never know what your competition has ready.  The only thing you know is what YOU have ready!!! :-)