Sometimes you win just by showing up!

This past weekend I traveled to Lowell, MA to participate in the Mill City Triathlon.  I registered in April to take advantage of the "early bird" pricing and decided that this event would be a nice overnight destination race.  The course looked flat and the entry fee was amazingly affordable.  As an added bonus, a friend who lives in Massachusetts decided to join me.  It's always nice to have a buddy at the start line.

Sometime in May, I wrote time goals on a post-it note and kept it at my desk.  They were as follows:
.9 Mile Swim - 40 minutes
22 Mile Bike - 1 hour 15 minutes (17.6 MPH)
6.2 Mile Run - 1 hour 10 minutes (11:15 minutes/mile)

Have to write it down

I didn't account for transitions with my total goal time of 3 hours and 5 minutes as I just wanted to focus on the discipline.  I also knew I wasn't in it to win it - coming back from injury means accepting what you can do now.  I was managing my expectations, yet setting myself up for a nudge out of my comfort zone.   

So what happened?

I. Hit. Each. Goal. 

Even accounting for actual distances being slightly under -- based on my pace, I still would have hit my goals! 

As I was running, every time I wanted to stop and walk I thought to myself "what if this walk break is the one that keeps me from hitting my goal?".  So I pushed on.



Garmin Summary Screen Shot

Here are the actual times and distances:
.9 mile swim - 37:34
21.3 mile bike - 1:10:41 (18.1 MPH)
6.0 mile run - 1:03:50 (10:40 minutes/mile)

Race finish time: 2:56:29!

There were only 67 people who came out and did this race and I certainly finished in the back of the pack.  I also won 3rd place in my age group!  (full disclosure - there were 3 people in my age group)

The bigger win is that I pushed...and crushed my goals!

In 2 weeks I will be participating in the DoubleMussel Challenge.  This is a sprint triathlon (.5 mile swim, 16 mile bike, 3.1 mile run) on Saturday followed by the half ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) on Sunday.  I have completed the MusselMan half ironman distance race several times - my best times have been around the 7 1/2 hour mark.  Maybe ... just maybe I can beat that in 2016.



Part of winning is showing up!
3rd Place Age Group

On the drive home we happened upon and stopped at The Friendly Farm --- 5 acres of interactive farm animals.  This little guy was my favorite. He's a chicken...with a HAIRDO!

Love your hair