Hey all,

I know I've been away for almost a year now, but I think I've found the motivation to start posting again. Let me fill you in on my life :-)

Last year was my third season of triathlons. I decided to move up to some longer distances, and trained for the Black Bear half iron. A couple weeks before the race I was sidelined with achilles tendonitis so I was not able to finish the race unfortunately. Just the same I showed up to the race, completed the swim and sprinted through transition and out the other side (I didn't even bring a bike or anything into the transition area). I was hoping to set a world record T1 but they didn't record anything for me, haha.

I went through the rest of the season in a funk - still training and racing shorter distances after I finished my physical therapy and got some orthotics. The first time using those orthotics was the Philly Oly - I decided to run barefoot, not accounting for the rough orthotic material, and ended up with blisters that covered 1/3 to 1/2 of my feet. Pretty nasty. I was so close to asking random bystanders for socks, haha.

The highlight of my season was Sprint Nats at Cayuga Lake in NY. I was still not extremely motivated going into the race, and forgot my tri suit and race belt among other things. I mentioned this to the announcer who beckoned other racers to lend me a pair of tri shorts. One very generous man answered the call, so I was able to race (clothed) and not shock the world. I finished 6th in my age group which I was very satisfied with. Great race overall, lots of great swag since it was the USAT venue last year.

Then my final race of the season was to be the Harrisburg sprint triathlon. This was the site of my first tri ever, and has been the only race I continue to do each season. In addition to the nostalgia, this race is great for my personal racing strengths: It's a downriver shallow swim, a completely flat and straight back with a single turn around, and then a flat multi loop run. In 2006 I finished 46th, then in 2007 I managed 8th which gave my a lot of inspiration for my 2008 race. I was hoping for top 5, and secretly wished for an overall podium spot.

I completed the swim significantly faster than previous seasons, and started the bike in 10th-12th place if I remember properly. After the turn around I was in about 4th-7th (sling shotting around) for my wave, and there are only 2 waves of men. Then ahead of me in the bike lane I see a parked car and some cones designating us to swerve around to the left. I had been hammering, trying to get back into my 4th place position, and must have jammed the pedals particularly hard as I hit a wet patch going into the swerve. Several chaotic seconds later and I find myself on the ground in the middle of the course cursing and bleeding. I wasn't particularly angry since the crash was really my own fault, but I was in a lot of pain which caused the cursing. Luckily there were no significant injuries and nothing large on my bike was broken.

I refused to be taken to the hospital, but some ladies rushed me over to the ambulance which had arrived. Once again I said that I didn't need to be treated, but they insisted. Several weeks after the race I received a bill for ~$150 for their services. A somewhat angry email was sent to the race director Chad Krebs, and he replied with nothing but kindness and helpfulness. It turns out the ambulance was a local one and not provided by the race which is why the bill came to me and not to him. He ended up paying the claim and sending me a hand written note with the invitation to come to this years race. I've always been a big fan of his crew, since I did my first race with Multisport Maniacs. But his help after my crash will keep me coming back to the race year after year. Check out the races at http://www.multisportmaniacs.org/

Flash forward to the fall and winter months - I run occasionally with my roommates, and play racquetball or go rock climbing, but that is it for physical activity. I didn't end up biking again until February, and only swam a couple of times during the spring. I have been very demotivated after a season with injuries and crashes, and had no goal races to train for. I continued cycling on my collegiate team and had some surprisingly good results despite my lack of training, especially in crits that were never my forte.

This past weekend I participated in the Black Bear sprint triathlon and rekindled some of the tri-fire and excitement that I lost in the past year. The race expo brought back all the good memories, and gave me the motivation to finish the swim portion that I had not trained for at all. I didn't have my clip on aerobars installed, because it turns out they were damaged in last year's crash. Riding was extremely difficult because my arms were so tired from the swim that I could barely support myself on the bike, let alone get into any kind of aero position. The run however went quite well! I knew I wasn't racing seriously (this race was more of a training day for me) so I yelled encouragement to all of the runners who past me. It was an out and back run course so I passed people every couple of steps and I made sure to say "good job" or "almost there" or something to each one. I hope I was able to encourage some of them, but it had the surprising result of encouraging myself! Talking to others helped distract me from the pain of running, and I just felt better about myself as I finished the race. I ended up with a run that I would have been proud of in any other season, even with lots of training and focusing during the race. So I think I will adopt this practice in my future races, and encourage people more and think a lot less.

Anyway, this community has been a very good spot to receive reassurance about the tribulations of triathlons, so I wanted to come back and say hello to you all. Hopefully this motivation continues and I can have a good season of sprint races! :-)