The Good, The Bad & The Ugly of My First Tri!

It’s over.  Oh yes, it’s over.  364 days until next year.  Redemption will be mine.  ** cue evil laugh **.

I completed my first mini-triathalon yesterday.  500 m swim (in Lake Ontario?!); 20 km on the bike and then a 5 km run.

So?  How did it go?  Well.  Let’s call it – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

The Good

a. I signed up for a triathalon.  Along with ‘swimming in the Amazon’; ‘eating haggis’; and ‘having another baby’, this is something that I never even considered as an option for me.  Nope.  So just getting to the registration page was pretty good.

b. I actually trained!  And, I fell in love with swimming.  Who knew?

c. I got to watch three friends (and one new friend!) complete an amazing feat!  I got to watch Susannah conquer her staggering fear of that swim.  So proud of all of them!

d. Susannah and I discovered The Good Earth Bistro.  What an amazing oasis.  Are you in the Toronto region? Make the drive to Beamsville.  Lobster and shrimp burger with Asian slaw.  AND, if you’re doing a triathalon the next day and have to limit your wine intake, they let you take the end of the bottle with you!  Fantastic.

I finished a triathalon!

e. I finished a triathalon!  I was under the time I wanted to be in my swim and did my usual 17k time for 20k in the bike.  Pleased!  In the words of Meatloaf, two out of three ain’t bad.

The Bad

a. My body didn’t really follow my plan.  You see, I’m not a runner.  I started an 8 week, learn to run a 5k program.  At week 5, just when I thought, ‘I don’t actually loathe this’, something popped in my calf.  It didn’t get better.  Then I stubbed my toe and broke it.  The same night.  WTF!  Oh, then I fell off my bike, in front of a patio full of drunks.  I can’t make this sh*t up!

The Ugly

a. When my body didn’t follow the plan, and I had to walk the entire 5k, my disappointment during and after the race was fairly massive.  Sadly, I let it overshadow any feeling of accomplishment of just completing the freaking thing.  Instead of celebrating with my friends, I cried behind my sunglasses and moped.  Lame.

The Good Revisited

f. I could seriously only come up with one bad and one ugly!  That’s good!

g. My pre race hug from Susannah’s daughter Grace.  I was so nervous and having her run to me and hug me was sort of amazeballs.

h. My post race hug from Will.  That goes under ‘The Awesome’.

i. I’m not scared to do it again next year.  Instead, I’m motivated.  I WILL run that 5k.  I WILL learn how to front crawl properly.  I WILL be thrilled just to finish.  Oh and I WILL make my kid come for the pre-race hug…because he’s my rock.  And speaking of rocks, the swim entry was seriously rocky! I need him to grab my shoes after I walk in the water!

So it’s over.  And no matter what happens from here in, I did a mini triathalon!!! Woohoo!