My first race this season was PTS Solutions Allatoona in late June. Race morning, as I walked into transition, it began to get scary, and after almost two years, I hoped and prayed I would remember what to do. I may have been even more nervous than at my first tri! I saw some friends, chatted, got body marked and, all the while, reminded myself how blessed I am to train and race again! My goal was to enjoy the challenge of this race from start to finish, no matter what the outcome.
Soon after the National Anthem, we were off. I struggled in the swim and just tried to get through it so I could get to the bike. T1 greeted me with a somewhat familiar scene –not so many bikes there. Note to self, as I ran to get my bike – swim more!
The bike is generally my happy place of the three. I enjoyed the rolling course, though I was gasping for breath much of the time. Notes to self – calm down now, and do more bike intervals later!
I was in T2 before I knew it, and it was time to rally to reach my goal to “enjoy” the race from start to finish. Given the current state of my run, I knew the three short miles of rolling pavement to the finish line would feel much longer and involve pain. Once out on the course, I felt the hurt in my legs at the first small hill.
But I quickly remembered what I do love about the run during races. I’d forgotten that there’s a special energy with the run because it’s the last leg of the race! You get to connect with people – the volunteers at the aid stations, friends and the crowds cheering you on with cowbells ringing and seeing fellow competitors giving their all out on the course, as we are all headed to the finish line.
Sheila with her 3rd place AG at her first race back after her accident
The race ended downtown with happy crowds cheering loud, and it felt great to cross that finish line. It was icing on the cake to get third in my age group. This first race back was a huge stake in the ground to move forward from, and onward to many more miles of training, racing and finish lines ahead!
