... a.k.a. one of the weirdest race experiences I've ever had.
Let's back up.
When I was considering my race season, I threw a whole bunch of random races I'd never done before. Let's go different, I thought. There were two different sprint tris I was looking at on June 24th - one was in Steamboat (Tri the Boat) and the other one was in Sterling (Tri on the Plains). I thought the one out east would be better and oh hey look, it's in a state park with another one on the way so I can hit two on the trip.* I registered for it right before the last price increase just so I actually did ... which was probably the first sign I shouldn't have registered in the first place.
I was attempting to put myself through a mini tri camp the weekend prior to the race. I scheduled everything and it was great. I had it go from Sunday through Wednesday ... and started it off with an almost 40 mile ride with a lot of climbing with friends on Saturday.
I slept in later than I wanted on Sunday (would have been so late had it been an *actual* tri camp), but I still went out for my run as planned. During said run ... which was later in the morning and therefore hotter ... and also fairly miserable because running just isn't where I want it to be ... I let my mind wander. I came to the conclusion that while I'm enjoying moving my body, I'm not enjoying actual, focused training. And part of that might be because I don't have a big, scary, purposeful goal on the horizon.
As a result, I would let myself just enjoy the rest of the summer. Go hike more. Not stress about everything I eat or do and OMG how am I going to fit in this run now when it's 100 degrees because I didn't wake up early enough to do so?. I in theory hoped to get through the rest of tri camp and the race and June ... but that didn't end up happening.
I knew I have enough base fitness to get through a sprint triathlon, so on the 23rd, we packed up and drove the few hours out to Sterling. I picked up my packet. I had my standard breakfast-for-dinner. I got decent sleep.
Sunday morning, we woke up a bit later than ideal, but still with plenty of time to get to North Sterling State Park, where the race was being held. I attempted to eat a breakfast sandwich from 7-11 pre-race ... but that didn't work. A Bobo's bar closer to race time worked much better.
This race may have been the smallest race I've ever done.
Quite possibly the smallest transition I've ever seen. Plus awesome clouds.
Pre-race smiley.
I think there were maybe 50 people competing ... and that includes all the relay competitors. And that might be generous.
Walking to the swim.
Water was about 70 degrees, so not bad ... but the last time I'd been in open water was Santa Cruz ... so it took me a minute to get used to it. This picture was probably taken right as the water hit my back. I had my usual anxiety with the cold and my lungs and the water, but I bobbed my head and did a few practice strokes and figured I'd be fine once the race started (I've been around this block a lot).
There wasn't a lot of time from when we got in the water and when the race started - I didn't even have time to get relaxed enough to pee! The race director was explaining the course and went right into, "are you ready to race? Okay, 3, 2, 1, go!"
I started swimming and while everything was physically fine ... mentally ... race brain just wasn't kicking in. I was working on avoiding not being punched in the head (harder than you'd think with so few people racing ...), got out a ways (100ish yds according to Garmin) ... and stopped. Ostensibly to breast stroke for a second and sight (and notice that oh yay, one of the last people), because I did start back up for a second.
And then I stopped again and treaded water for a moment. I wasn't particularly enjoying myself and didn't particularly want to be last out of the water and just didn't particularly want to race. I just was not feeling it. So I made the decision to turn it.
As soon as I did, I felt lighter.
I swam back to the dock/shore, assuring the volunteers that I was fine. I told Brandon that I just wasn't feeling it and didn't want to continue and race and be miserable. I turned in my chip to Darrin from Racing Underground (who was providing the timing and whom I chatted with a bit pre-race) and waited for most people to start the bike before removing my things from transition.
We exited the park on the bike course and I did kind of regret not being out there on the bike, but other than that, had no regrets about pulling out.
I felt like I should regret the decision; I think Brandon was surprised at how okay I was at DNFing (really more of a false start).
******
I'm going to enjoy my summer. I've weeded out some races on the sidebar and the only two races I'm 100% for sure going to keep are the Milk Run (because I've paid for it) and the Blerch half because dude, fun! The others will probably not happen, but never say never, right?
I think I realized that I need a true mental break from triathlon and training. I've been doing it for 11 years and, if we're being honest with ourselves, seriously for seven or eight. With no true break.
I still believe I do want to race IRONMAN Wisconsin next year, but with the state of my head right now, there's no way I'll be able to show up to the start line adequately prepared, and I am not going to disrespect the race distance like that.
* I have a goal of hitting all of Colorado's state parks this year. I'm just about halfway through.
... also known as the end of the Skirt Sports Ambassador Retreat, too.
My original plan with this race was to race it. I think in the beginning of the year I harbored hopes of PRing ... but I think my training made that unlikely and then the allergy disaster I went through a week or so ago made me question even racing it. Instead, I decided to pull a BolderBOULDER (and this race last year with the 10K) and find friends to run with instead and have fun.
So that is exactly what I did.
Pre-race selfie.
I started out with four other people - Erika, Jessi, Noelle, and Kristen - but soon realized we dropped Kristen. Well, no Skirt left behind, so I hung back (and actually went backward on the course) to wait for her to catch up.
Kristen found, we chatted and ran (and walked) the rest of the way.
Over-exaggerating my running stride for Jennifer taking pictures. Or skipping. But probably the former.
Since this race ended up being all about the #fun, I leaped my way across the finish line.
Finish line photos courtesy Jen Allen.
Final Stats:
Time: 46:18.5
27/34 division (F30-39)
79/131 overall
Definitely my slowest ever 5K, but like the BolderBOULDER this year, tops in terms of fun.
Afterward, it was time for photos and cake and helping with the 13er turnaround and then brunch.
Post-race selfie with my race buddy, Kristen.
With one of the many pieces of Kim and Jake's cake that I ate.
Selfie with Nicole.
Emily hula-hooping behind cheering Skirts.
Cheer tunnel we did for the BOP 13er finishers.
Such an amazing weekend and I can't wait for next year to be able to do it all again!
And maybe actually do the 13er ...
This past weekend was the annual Skirt Sports Ambassador retreat and it was bigger than ever. Mostly because we have way more ambassadors than usual, but seriously. 200 women came out and it was an amazing weekend.
Friday, as usual, was the cocktail reception at the store. With so many people, however, we actually had to use bracelets and get liquor licenses and take over a parking lot. Crazy, I know.
So much wine.
Eating all the food.
See? So many Skirts.
Looking the other way.
Friday night was mostly social, but we did have Nicole talk as well as Noelle. Noelle shared a beautiful thing from Lisa Young-Morrissey, a fellow ambassador who recently passed away from cancer.
Skirt did some awards - people who most represent the brand's core values as well as some other random things. We were also treated to a fashion show from the future (with Fall 2018 product as well as a super sneak peek into Spring 2019) to get us all excited for what's coming next (and it is good!). Mostly, it was a great time to drink and eat and reconnect with old friends and make a lot of new ones.
Shenanigans with one of the empty magnums.
Saturday, we took over an event center in Westminster. We had three amazing speakers - Kara Berryman Burns, a fellow ambassador with an amazing story (featured on Nicole's podcast as well!), Mirna Valerio, a.k.a. the Mirnavator (here on Run This World with Nicole DeBoom), and Colleen Cannon, former pro triathlete and founder of Women's Quest (and oh hey, also on the podcast). Since we like to move, there was also some yoga sprinkled in.
There was a hike afterward too, but I skipped it due to having so much crap going on at home. I regret it a lot, though.
Taking over.
You can take the girls out of Brooklyn, but you can't take the Brooklyn out of the girls. Mirna on the left and Latoya on the right.
We finished everything up with the Skirt Sports 13er (and 10K and 5K) on Sunday as well as a post-race brunch, but I'll get to that in my race recap post.
******
I do want to give a shout out to all of the AMAZING companies that sponsored our retreat because it definitely would NOT have been possible without them!
- Kendall-Jackson and La Crema for the wine (and La Crema has one of my favorite Pinot noirs anyway ...).
- Ska Brewing for beer (which everyone else enjoyed immensely ...).
- The Tea Spot for tea Saturday morning as well as goody-bag stuff on Friday.
- Justin's Nut Butters for nut buttery goodness Saturday morning (and a goody bag insert).
- Noosa Yoghurt for helping to feed us Saturday morning.
- Kim and Jake's Cakes for ALL OF THE CAKE all weekend. I love Kim and Jake's. So much.
- Alpine Start Foods for providing us with coffee Saturday morning.
- MAD Greens for our delicious lunch on Saturday.
- Illegal Pete's for our taco bar dinner on Friday.
- Mychelle Dermaceuticals for the sunscreen in our goody bags.
- Boulder Clean for our mini detergent samples.
and, of course ...
- Skirt Sports for being so utterly fabulous of a company that I am so proud to represent.
I set some fairly ambitious goals this month and, well ... I kind of got close. Kind of.
Swimming: 11700m (7.27 mi)
Cycling: 110.67 mi
Running: 48.19 mi
Lifting: 11 sessions (3:22)
Other: five hikes (4:50), one session plyometrics (:16), one walk (2:00), two yoga sessions (:32)
I did hit my swim goal of 10000m. I should have surpassed it by a lot more, but I really didn't manage to swim much the last week and a half of May. Oops. It happens, I know, but still. Ugh.
I got halfway to my super ambitious 200 mile cycling goal. I didn't miss too many planned rides. However, when most of my rides are 10ish miles ... a big hairy goal gets a bit tricky.
I was so so so so sososososo close to hitting my 50 mile run goal and I even could have managed it one of the last two days in May, but we were in Las Vegas for a baby vacation and I really didn't want to stress about running and just wanted to enjoy vacation ... so that's what I did. Besides, if I hadn't have gotten sick (allergies?), I would have hit it no problem, so no point in dwelling on it.
Hiking season has clearly started, which I am super happy about.
June brings a few more races - Skirt Sports 5K this weekend, my first tri of the season later in the month - and hopefully a lot more miles. I'm going to up my swim goal to 15000m (should be easily doable) and try again for the bike (200 mi) and run (50 mi) goals. I was considering upping the run goal, but I was also doing a lot of longer runs in preparation for the BolderBOULDER ... and I'm not sure if I'm going to stay in the 7-8 mile range as a long run. We'll see I suppose ...
