That. Was. Something. Else.

It's been exactly ONE WEEK since my 2018 Triathlon Season came to an end. About two weeks after Age Group Nationals in Cleveland Ohio; I completed the Kinetic Multisports North East Triathlon in North East Maryland. It was ALWAYS one of those bucket list triathlon for me that I wanted to check out. Since my friends Faith and David live about 15 minutes from North East; I had a good reason to go do it.

Don't let that smile coming from the left third place age group podium fool you; because oh boy North East Sprint Triathlon, You. Were. Something. Else. I took 3rd out of 3 in the 30-34 female age group (my last triathlon in that age group), top 1/3 of women overall, and top 1/2 of overall between men and women. I really can't complain; but I did. Well ok; it was more like a beat myself up session rather than a complaining session.

If anything this picture says it all. I'm the one who's back is to the camera in the mostly black but has some magenta to it tri kit on. This picture depicts how beat and exhausted I was when I got to the finish. The swim was pretty good until several guys came crashing into me toward the end of the 750 meter open water swim. The hike to transition was LONG from the swim was never ending; they say we ran 1/4 mile but that's not how long it really was. The bike; yes the bike, it was a killer of a course. For the 16 miles we rode, we did near 800 feet of climbing. Maybe that doesn't really seem like to much but it really was. I didn't mind the longer hills that went on forever; it was the short steep hills that I had trouble on. Oh and the stomach issues; not sure exactly what caused them to start and linger on but they did. I came rolling into transition on the bike crying underneath my sunglasses because of how horrific that bike felt. I rolled into and out of transition pretty quickly from bike to run so that was a plus (and a half). The run wasn't too bad; a 1.5 mile out and 1.5 mile in course. It was on a wide shoulder of a road that wasn't very hilly or non-shaded like the race site said. I was still having stomach issues and was still dealing with the tears from the bike so my run turned out to be pretty good.

In the end; I shouldn't have gotten so upset and beat myself down to the ground over one race that didn't go my way. I had been working all 2018 long for so many moments; all that were achieved. The hard work, dedication, early mornings, all of that; they paid off. Period. Nothing else to say. In the coming days I will reflect a little more about the 2018 season and what I plan to do with my 2018/2019 off-season.