Hard to feel good about improvement...

Well, my second Four States Tri came and went on Sunday, and needless to say, I was not very excited with how I did overall.

Backing up to the days leading up to it, I didn't run Thursday due to weather.  Then I did a good weights workout on Friday.  Saturday, I had an easy ride and run with Neal Kiser, my kids' stepdad.  We rode just over 12 miles at just under 16.5mph pace, then I ran a mile at 8:11.  My only goal was to not be sore Sunday morning.  (A big congrats to Neal for completing his first triathlon!  What a great accomplishment!)

Ever since finishing Galveston, I have had a very tough time firing my competitive engine!  Everything was so endurance-focused, that my speed hasn't been a priority.  That has become more evident to me, and definitely showed itself to be true on Sunday.

That morning, I took some Gu chomps after putting my wetsuit on, and from then on, I felt uncomfortable and warm, and had a tough time controlling my heart rate, although I wasn't nervous in the least.  I think the combination on being warm and the caffeine loading into my system proved to be a problem!  So I could never get into my rhythm with my swim stroke, and ultimately slowly side stroked and back stroked my way through the swim.  Crappy and slow, yet faster than my swim last year!  The bike was better than last year, and my run slower than the first one.  I didn't feel like I was trying very much, and could never get a fire lit under me.  I also started feeling a cramp coming on in my left hammy at mile one of the run, leading to 3 or 4 45-50 second walks over the last two miles.

Funny though...as crappy as I felt and as unmotivated as I was, I still beat last year's time (where I was racing hard) by 5 seconds...and beating that time was my ONLY goal!

The bright spot for me in this tri was that it was my first that I had Kelly, my 3 kids, and my parents all there in attendance watching.  I often think about the fact that I can do NONE of this without the love, support, and encouragement of my family.  Having them there made what would have been an otherwise ho-hum kind of a day into a very special one for me!!!