This year I am lucky enough to be on a team of wonderfully able triathletes. Although I probably wouldn't recognize most of them in everyday work attire, when the goggles are on, these are the people I will go to sprint distance war for. If there is a force to reckon with, it's us, together on race day, in our red & black.
Racing in the rain: Been there, done that, all while slamming a GU.
As the men took off 1 hour before we did, us girls got down to the business of wetsuit zippers, bike set-ups and last minute advice. Having transition to ourselves, smiles and giggles replaced the normal race tension. There was no talk at all of times, age group competition, faster wheels or aerodynamics. Nor was it pink and pretty. It was lean and mean in a 'watch out the women are coming' kind of way.
The ancient Greeks (smart ass people) believed that the human spirit advanced through competition. That is how the human race achieved it's best. Competition was almost religion back then. Standing in transition last Saturday, I couldn't help but noticed that not much has changed.
On paper, I had a pretty good race- I didn't reinvent the disc-wheel. I didn't 'kill' the course, no sprint distance records were broken. Friendships were sealed though, when team spirit, 1 amazing coach, (& my cheering mother) got us girls through a wet & wild race; one teeny tiny step for the human spirit, one huge step forward for a team of high energy, overachieving women. In the cold morning rain, the uncertainly of wet suit / no wetsuit, we achieved our best and we did it damn well.
I am left motivated & in awe of the company I keep.
Train safe,