An introduction!

I am starting this blog for two reasons:

1. To document my journey to becoming a better triathlete
2. To post my insightful comments and share them with the world (in case you didn't catch it - there is sarcasm there)

So a few things to know about my reasoning for starting triathlon. I was once a collegiate swimmer, but then I went to grad school to get my Ph. D. in chemistry. In the first two years I gained 30 pounds (!) and was miserable. I also found myself missing competition and racing, so I decided to start training for triathlons. So here I am four years later doing my best to lose the last 10-15 pounds and learning the ins and outs of triathlon.

Over this past weekend I participated in the Deuces Wild Olympic triathlon, but it didn't exactly go as planned. We had near perfect conditions for racing and I was super psyched to see what I could do. Clearly, the swim is my best leg so I always try to get as big of a lead as I can. The water was chilly, but it was not the worst I have raced in. Once the swim started, I was having trouble settling in. My wetsuit felt constricting and I was having a lot of trouble breathing, so I backed off a bit and tried to keep my heart rate consistent. I came out with some other girls, which is unusual since I have never not been first out of the water in a race. I was pretty frustrated going into transition and my heart rate was spiking, so I was having even more trouble breathing. Regardless, I hopped on my bike and got into a pretty good rhythm, and got my heart rate constant. All was going well until I followed a guy in front of me off-course. I lost about 5 minutes there, but I tried not to let it bother me and continued on. And then disaster. Around mile 12, I hit some gravel and fell off my bike. Typically, I keep my cleats really loose so that when that does happen my feet come out, minimizing the damage. However, my right foot did not unclip, so my knee went one way and my body the other. A couple people asked if I was ok and I did the typical "I'm fine" and hopped back on my bike. At that point my race plan had changed to just finishing. As I continued on, the course became hillier and my knee started to swell. I ended up backing of even more and in tears the last 5 miles of it. Finally, I got to transition with a really fat knee and a bruised ego and asked for the medics. They came and checked it out and said it was swollen (obviously) and it looked like I sprained it. As pissed as I was about not finishing the race, I was reminded why I fell in love with this sport in the first place. Two other triathletes (who I believe were waiting for there relay team), helped me to cross the timing line to get my split (even though I don't even want to know what it was) and put my bike in transition for me. People in this sport are constantly cheering you on and supportive! Anywho, the medics put me in the cart, while Logan got my gear out of transition, and we headed to the car so I could get back to the hotel to recover.

Luckily, the swelling in my knee has decreased greatly and I was able to do a very short and very easy run yesterday. There is still a little bit in the muscle that was pulled/strained, but I think it will be back to full speed shortly. I am proud of myself for finishing that bike even though it hurt like hell and I am trying not to let bother me that I couldn't finish. I guess the lesson learned here is that crap happens and I just have to accept it. So I will continue training and move on to the next, which just happens to be my first 70.3!