A late update: Escape the Cape, Heartbreak Hill Hat Trick

I haven't been posting in a while, for a couple of reasons, each of which could be expanded into its own blog post. For simplicity's sake, I'll try to keep it short:

• I hit major burnout on racing, training, and all talk of racing & training;
• I haven't been completely proud of my accomplishments, and I didn't want my blog to get even more self-deprecating than it already is;
• I got overwhelmed by the backlog of race reports I needed to write, so it was easier to write none;
• I had been in that part of the cycle where social media seems too invasive, and I wanted my life to be private for awhile.

All of that being said, I still continued to race & train (and talk about racing & training), and I'm learning to be proud of my accomplishments, and I do want to capture at least some of the details of the races I've done, and clearly since I am writing this blog post, I'm in the "hey everyone, look at me" cycle of social media. 

Since my last post, I've completed the Escape the Cape Sprint Triathlon, Heartbreak Hill "Hat Trick", Cohasset Sprint Triathlon, Whaling City Duathlon (DNF), and Dam Triathlon in Amesbury. I'll recap a few of the races here, what I can remember, anyway.

May 31st -- Escape the Cape Sprint Triathlon (1/3 mile swim, 10 mile bike, 3.1 mile run)

Results 1:42:10 (9th out of 11 Athenas) (Swim 16:34 / Bike 43:58 / Run 36:59) (T1 3:06 / T2 1:34)

Yup, that about sums it up.

First triathlon of the year, and I hadn't really been training for triathlons. I wasn't racing it, I was just getting back into remembering how to do it. I tried to let go of the results and just focus on the process -- It was a dress rehearsal for Cohasset, I kept telling myself. The swim felt a little clunky, but I was really surprised by how bad my time was compared to last year (more than 6 minutes slower). The bike was fine, I really have no expectations for that since I haven't been doing the work. The run was also slower, but I had long since accepted my slower run times. This picture was taken in the last 1/2 mile of the race, on an uphill. I was playing leapfrog with the guy behind me for the second half of the race, and we kept each other going. Some of the neighbors on the course were out in their lawns saying to him, "You're not going to let her beat you, are you?" so I think that lit a fire under both of us for the second half of the race (except for this hill, in which we are both walking, but hey, it's all good.)

E3 Teammates -- Frank, Denise, me, Stephanie

I guess in a way, this race set the tone for the upcoming season, which is to meet myself where I'm at in my fitness level. Don't compare myself to last year (or maybe compare results, but don't beat myself up about it.) Be grateful that I can complete a triathlon. This summer is not about being better/faster/stronger, this summer is about having fun, and I need to learn how to do that with what I've got, and what I've got is a capable body, and some great tri-companions that I've met along the way.

June 7th & 8th -- Heartbreak Hill "Hat Trick" (5K & 10K back-to-back on Saturday, half marathon on Sunday)

Results (5K 43:58 / 10K 1:26:12 / Half 3:27:23)

5K selfie - still smiling and not sweating!

5K was fine - nice & easy, purposeful walking. Connie & I stayed together and kept it conversational. 10K was a little tougher, especially the first 1-2 miles, but then I felt great the last 1-2 miles, knowing it was over until the next day. The half the next day sucked. Worst half marathon I ever ran. Barely made the 3.5 hour cutoff. I will admit, I think I felt like if I could do Goofy (half marathon Saturday, full on Sunday) then this wouldn't feel that hard. I even said to Connie in the first few miles of the race that it would take until about mile 4 before we'd feel warmed up. 

Half Marathon finish

I think I felt warmed up for about 1/2 mile, and then I immediately felt tired. I walked a lot. I was playing the worst sort of running games with my watch, but couldn't stick to anything. "Run for 5 minutes, then walk for 1 minute." "Ok, just run for 3 minutes, then walk for 3 minutes." "Forget it, just try to run for at least 1 minute during every mile." Ugh, those kind of mental games are torture, and I hadn't had to play those for years. At about mile 9, I caught up to Connie and our other liver teammate Jim. I walked with them for about 2 miles before Jim convinced us to go on without him. Connie and I tried to run some of the last couple of miles, but by then it was clear that we were only in this "to finish" and that was going to happen, so it was hard to run when there seemed to be no good reason for it. But, I did finish, and I'm trying really hard not to take that for granted. I don't want to diminish my accomplishments, because someday I won't be able to complete a half marathon in just under the time limit, and I don't want to look back on the day I was able to do that and realize I was full of complaints and self hatred. So, yay for me! I did the hat trick! Next year, I'm doing the "five & dime" only. (<--- This is why I blog, otherwise I'd be like, "That was awesome! I'm totally doing that again!")

Hat Trick complete!

Next post: race reports for Cohasset Tri, Whaling City, and the Dam Triathlon...