One Year Down

My feet ready to run as I finished up the last business call of the day.

Yesterday I got an e-mail from KOZ Enterprises, an event management company that puts on a bunch of races every year down in San Diego. The e-mail was related to the Solana Beach Sprint Tri on July 25th. It was one of those urgent "register NOW - we're filling up fast" emails that I always fall for. So I basically dropped everything and registered so quickly that whoever is doing the marketing over at KOZ will probably get a promotion for stellar engagement and conversion metrics.

The truth is, I'm pretty pumped on this race. Last year's race was my first triathlon ever and the first race I will do for a second time.

I don't remember the "official" first date of my triathlon training. I'd been running for about a year as of last Spring. But my credit card statement shows that I bought a bike on May 10th of last year, and buying the bike was so I could get ready for the Solana Beach race.

I ended up doing the 1/4 mile swim in 13:39, the 9 mile bike in 40:19, and the 3 mile run in 26:28 for a 1:20:26 finish. I finished 781 out of 1071. But never once did my results (or lack thereof) cross my mind. Running the last 100 yards down the finish chute ranks as one of my top 10 all time epic life experiences. I was hooked. Actually, I remember thinking to myself that I was hooked as I came out of the water, because there was a (pretty big) part of me that thought my race would begin and end with the swim.

Finishing that race was a gift that keeps on giving to this day. It's been like that sweet remote control car I got for Christmas when I was 12, but it's never run out of batteries. In the time since, I can count on one hand the times when I lacked the motivation to go out and train. Triathlon is truly a part of my life.

And it couldn't have come at a better time. For that I am thankful.

I can sit here all day and run the math. I've knocked at least 1:20 off of my running pace. On similar courses, I've ridden my bike an average of 9 miles an hour faster than I did at Solana. The swim? Well, that needs some work, but it's better too.

All of this is well and good, but the reason I am pumped is because I can go do this race and see what I've REALLY got as compared to last year. Forget the stats, this is a rematch. I'm really looking forward to that.

I celebrated my 1st triathlon training anniversary with a 10 mile run this afternoon. It was one of those typical California Friday afternoons - warm but not hot, and plenty of others out and about getting a few hours jump on the weekend. It was a great run and I'm feeling pretty strong. And there was no way in hell I was running 10 miles a year ago. So bring it, Solana Beach.