There's more to triathlons than a perfect race day

I'd like to share a little of what happened to me personally yesterday at the Honolulu Triathlon. 

I had a great swim, I was really happy about how great it felt and how much fun I had. It flew by and I was feeling strong for the bike. Yay!

Coming out of the swim leg

Then when I got on my bike the brakes started rubbing right out of transition. We'd had this issue since getting a tune up but thought it had been fixed. It seemed fine last few rides. But nope, at the race it started up again. Of course that's how it is, right?

I stopped twice to try & fix it but it kept going back. The little bolt holder inside the brake pad (I don't know the official name of that tiny piece) was stripped or forgotten to be put back on after tune up last month (which was when the issue started). 

So I rode with brakes 'on' in the back. Needless to say, it sucked. I hadn't gone so slow since my first triathlon. It was frustrating because I had been so excited
about the new bike and the effort in training and then my payoff was this really bad ride.

Several miles in once realizing nothing could be done at that moment, I made the decision to do my best with what I have to work with & not let it get me down. I stayed under my lactate threshold (slow moving) so I could finish without burning out, smiled & gave thanks. The run was affected but I was still able to pace myself well anyway, enjoy it fully & have a GREAT time. 

Before the event. Go team OnTrack Fitness!

Sure I was disappointed. I'd purchased a very nice new bike, trained a LOT in the saddle & was super ready for speedy times. I'd done everything right. By the way, this had been one of those elusive 'perfect training seasons' for me.

But the reason I'm sharing this isn't about disappointment. 

Let me point something out: if I hadn't done all of that prep and training, I would've had a REALLY hard time with those conditions. Quite honestly even though I was going slow while working just under my threshold it still went by quickly. The mileage seemed easy, I didn't notice much pain and I knew all that time in the saddle was paying off, just in a different way. I thought that was pretty cool. 

We just never know what the race will bring. We train smart, plan well & do our best with what we've got. Race day is not a guaranteed perfect day, which is part of the challenge isn't it?  

Still had a blast at the
Honolulu Triathlon!

As athletes we give 100% in each moment even if 100% looks different than we thought it would. We enjoy and cross the finish line with a smile knowing we've left it all on the course. 

That's exactly what I did at the Honolulu Triathlon.

I'm glad to be a able to demonstrate how to deal with these crazy things that pop up. There's more to being a triathlete than swim bike run! Far from it, which is why being a triathlete is a title earned not given, is something to be proud of and thankful for & why many people never even try to become one. 

Plus there will always be another race. But this one was definitely one of the very best for so many reasons.

This experience will be part of my memory of the day but there was so much more to it than that. This will only be a blip. I'll

It was a great day!

have nothing but wonderful memories of the day filled with happy smiles from all of our clients who kicked butt, talk of how everyone did & of future plans for the next event. Can't imagine anything better than that!