I will preface this race report with I am not going to go on and on and on with excuses. There are many things that are working against me right now and I am not really sure how to fix them or correct them.
The main and most time consuming part of my life is breastfeeding. I thought that by 6 months we would be on the "easy train" when it came to this. Not so much. Actually feeding Aven is a breeze now. We have gotten down our routine and it is a really special bonding time for us. Although, when I am not with her it is pure torture! The pump isn't so much a hated object, but the time taken out of my very busy day to actually pump is stressful. I am also trying to make sure I have enough milk for the next day. Stress Stress Stress. Now that I have that out in the open I can get on with my race...
So this was my first race since baby girl was conceived and arrived. All others were "fun" events. The first time I did this race I thought I was so out of shape. We had moved from IL and I was 7 months post IM Florida. I hadn't really trained then and thought my efforts were OK at best. Fast forward 2 years and all the stuff that has happened since then and in hind sight, I was a freaking rock star! LOL. My times from 2009 were: swim-26:29, bike-1:21:04 (19.2 mph), and 56:22 (9:06 miles). This year... swim-29:15, bike-1:32:53 (16.79 mph), and 1:04:37 (10:23 miles). Dramatically slower all around.
I know! I know! I JUST had a baby...I have heard it from many people. Some of whom are happy b/c they feel they should be beating me because I am so out of shape. Yea...there are those really wonderful people that say OUT LOUD "Well, you JUST had a baby, so if you are beating me, there is something really wrong here." Nice. Real NICE. :-/
It just rattles me a little bit. I am having trouble finding the motivation and time to train when all my free time is spent pumping for Aven. Or trying to catch up on cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, paying bills, dishes, etc. I don't know how IM training is really going to fit in right now. I can barely find the time to train for an Olympic distance tri for goodness sake! Andy said he would help out, but there is only so much he can do...pumping is all consuming and like I mentioned before...torture.
Ugh. I am so angry with myself. I said no excuses, right?
Recap: The swim was hot (water temp. was 89*), the bike was the worst 26 miles of my biking life (I actually wanted to cry at one point), and the run was surprisingly good--considering I was running on the surface of the SUN!
On the way down to the race, I turned to Andy and reflected on the past 2 years. All complaining and excuses aside, we have been very blessed. We set out a goal 3 years ago to move to Chattanooga, buy a dream house in the woods, have careers to be proud of, and start a family. We have done all that and more. When I got bussed out to the start of the race I looked around at the 1300+ people and realized the last time I was at the start of this race I didn't know a single soul. This year when I looked around I had so many friends doing the race with me! I found Susanna and Gina and we chatted a bit before I went and got in line. It was such an awesome feeling knowing I am a Chattanoogian now.
Not sure if IM is still going to work out. I will be disappointed in myself if I can't get it together to put the training in, but I know that life is more important than racing. It is just a hard pill to swallow after years of wanting/trying to be competitive. I never thought of myself as a completer rather than a competitor. Aven is teaching me a lot...
1 comment:
It definitely takes awhile to find your groove, even after 6 months. You are doing an awesome job managing everything, and now you have a benchmark to improve on from here on out. All I can tell you is that you'll get there, and you'll be more badass than ever!
As for IM, well, I haven't even managed a half since Jonah was born, so I'm no help. The motivation for the long stuff just wasn't there.
That said, I was going to ask you again about triple-t next year. Chris said I could do it, and now it just depends on the date. Might be one of those things that sounds great 10 months out...but it does sound great now!
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