Race Weekend is Upon Me

Phew, been quite a long time. Back to it.

This weekend marks the first triathlon of the season for me. It's a bit earlier than normal, and the run is a bit longer than normal. This wouldn't be such an issue had I not had a minor setback recently. A few weeks ago group training began with Together We Tri. This is my fourth season training with the group, and I wouldn't trade them for the world. We like to call it Summer Camp!

On Tuesday, June 7 we began the workout with run drills and even a one-mile time trial. Okay, fine no big deal! I haven't done hardly any speed work the past 6 months, but I've been running every week. The one-mile time trial was awesome. I felt tired while running, but overall not too bad. My final time was somewhere around 9:27 (which is about 90 seconds faster than normal, holy cow). After the time trial we hit the pavement again for a moderately paced 2-3 mi run. Well, as timing goes for me, around mile 1.5 my right inner ankle cringed and I had to stop almost immediately. Walking wasn't an issue but when I tried to shuffle again, right back to where I was. Long story short, we originally thought it was Achilles, but later a friendly physical therapist completely ruled that out. Thank gosh. After over a full week off running I went for a jog and miraculously there was no ankle pain! I only ran 2 miles, but still, I was so thankful.

Fast forward to today. This week I've gotten in a group ride followed by a 7-minute run, spin class, swimming and I'm attempting to run again today. There was debate by our fabulous coach Anne if I should hold off on racing, but in the end it's decided that I'm going to go to the race on Sunday, but treat it as a workout. I'm 100% okay with this. I had the opportunity to send in a doctor's note and receive 50% back of what I paid, but knowing that recent activity doesn't bother me, I might as well try. (I'd also be beating myself up about it Saturday night, and that's not good for anyone in my vicinity.)

I can't believe after nearly 9 months I'm hitting the water and pavement once again and it's the official start of my 2011 season. Here's my schedule:

• June 26 - Twin Lakes Sprint Triathlon (Palatine, IL)
• July 10 - Women's Trek Sprint Triathlon (Pleasant Prairie, WI - more from me here)
• July 23 - Alexian Brothers 10k (Hoffman Estates, IL) with Lori!!!
• July 31 - Glenview Sprint Triathlon (Glenview, IL - one of my all time favorites, more from me here)
• August 28 - Chicago Sprint Triathlon (Chicago, IL - more from me here)

Bottom line, I'm stoked for this weekend. I absolutely love racing and being in that atmosphere. Keep your fingers crossed that this "workout" I'm participating in on Sunday (with 400 of my close friends of course) doesn't involve ankle pain and I can just enjoy the day.

Thanks for your support!

I'm no Ironman, but I Still Tri.