Spring Racing- Come and Gone! Recap.

2021 got underway quickly, whether I was ready or not!  The overall plan for this year was geared towards helping me get back to triathlon.  This was no small task it seemed, as I haven't been able to execute this plan for the 5 years prior. 

Dudley Stadler 5k:  This was a very small, local parish 5k.  Dave won the whole thing and I just felt like I had a terrible race.  I am pretty stuck at this random low 8 min pace when I race.  I can usually gut out a mid 7s last mile, but I  just struggle to get any turnover going.  This is after time on the track, strides, hill work, etc.  I think the years off and loss of muscle have just really hurt my overall speed and pace.  

Los Islenos 5 miler: Same kind of thing going on...incredibly small race with only a small handful of people really racing in the field.  I felt the same way....  just couldn't get myself faster than an 8 minute pace going out, but then found a way to push it to a slightly faster speed  coming back in but still just hanging around the same overall pace.  I executed great racing tactics, nice tangents, when to pass and drop people, etc.  This was actually the first race I ever did where I was racing a guy to the finish line and he asked if we could tie.  I didn't even know how to respond!  I said sure, because what was I supposed to say?  Aren't we supposed to race to the finish line?  I felt great and was ready to race him in!  Well, whatever, I let us tie.  The results never got posted anyway.  

Pelican Man Duathlon:  First time racing my bike in 5 years.  I kept it conservative on the first run.  (But honestly, how fast am I right now running anyway?  Not very.).  I let the 2 women in front of me get about 10-20 seconds on me, but then I passed them with my apparently still good T1 execution.  Within the first mile, one woman passed me back on the bike.  I had my first bike mechanical of the year and could not get my bike to shift.  It went into the small chain ring and then I never got it back out.  GREATTTTTT...  Nothing like mechanical stress to welcome me back.  So, small chain ring ride it was.  I kept fiddling with the barrel adjuster thinking I could move the derailleur to get it to shift, but at some point I realized I was wasting time and energy when I just needed to focus on the ride.  It was tough mentally to let it go, but also good practice.  The race was only a 10 mile bike, so it made no sense to continue to focus on the shifting.  Overall I was fine on the ride.  Not great.  Not bad.  Avg was 20.4 ish (no chip timing), which is pretty darn slow for me, but also I felt like it was probably good for where I am as an athlete now.  I came into T2 a bit behind my competitor, had a slower transition because for the first time since I was a true beginner, I didn't leave my shoes on the bike.  I don't know what I was thinking.  Yes I do.  I was thinking I am old and need to be safe because I haven't done this in a while.  Anyways, leaving shoes on the bike is still the way to go. 

The 2nd run was interesting.  I was at the same speed as my first run, which was nice.  And I just watched body language of the woman about 15 seconds in front of me, and she didn't seem as fluid as the first run.  I thought I could maybe bridge to her, and I did at about 1.25 miles.  From there, I just sat on her back until I was ready to make my move.  I dropped probably 45 seconds on that last mile, which was a good closing mile.  Mostly I remember two thoughts:  1.  I really wanted to win this for my kids, in a way I never felt before.  They never got to see me when I raced well, and I am sad that time has passed without their part in it.  I wanted to come home with a trophy.  and 2.  I just really wanted to win.  It has been so long.  But, it really hit me that the other woman wanted to win too.  Only one of us could.  

I took the win.  It was a great feeling, but honestly it was only from having a great competitor in front of me on the day that I was able to pull that out of myself. 

And you know what?  The kids could have cared less that I won, so I guess I can't use that emotion to dig deep anymore.  

Xterra Oak Mountain 20k:  This was a hard race for me.  I signed up last year and it got postponed to this year.  It was a gorgeous course in Birmingham, and I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful venue.   But, on the 5.5 hour drive there with Isla, I realized that my sinus infection was actually really bad.  I was miserable.   I holed up at my in-laws home for the next day, with 40$ worth of Walgreens over the counter meds, trying to see if I could make the race happen.  I really knew not to race, but I made this huge trip and felt pretty disappointed.  Dave told me to try, and his exact words were "your legs aren't sick."  I kind of disagreed because my whole body felt sick, but whatever.  I did get out there and gave it my all, but it just felt terrible the whole time.  I am always grateful for my adventures, and certainly this had some silver linings just like all of the races do, but I probably could have and should have walked away from this one. But you never know until you know.  

So, here we are.  It is May in New Orleans.  It is hot and humid.  I have my first triathlon in 1.5 weeks.  Mostly I need the sinus infection to clear up, but also I am just a bit nervous about doing triathlon again.  I don't feel prepared.  I am not seeing any objective progress in any of the 3 sports.  So, I am working hard to find my purpose in being out there, especially if I am struggling to quantify my racing based on pace or time.  I think these are hard questions we ask ourselves as athletes if we leave a sport on one level and then return at a much lower level.  I am not sure what my ceiling of improvement is this time around.  Have I already hit it?  It is just a decline from here on out?  That reality doesn't seem too fun to me.  So, I going to have to keep an open mind when I get out there as to what this is all about for me.  

Peace out!  Hopefully a positive race report to come in a couple of weeks.