Litchfield Hills Triathlon Recap

On Sunday, July 14th, my friends and I did the Litchfield Olympic Triathlon.  For me, the Olympic triathlon has proved troubling.  I have had trouble with Olympic distance for the past few years, this was my third and failed attempt.  The first one, I got 2 flat tires and fell on the bike and in Round 2 I made a wrong turn on the run.  I felt terrible after the experience but I found a blog from a fellow who did not finish after training for the Ironman and his disappointment and story of picking himself up afterwards was very inspiring.  I was very glad to be there at the end of the race to see my better half finish the Duathlon and he did an amazing job.  I also got to see my good friend Jen finish and she did great.

This year, I will admit I did not trained properly.  I was so focused on getting through the half in June after being sick for most of May that I did not put in the proper training effort. I also have not been swimming as much as I should have. So right there, 2 things to work on. However, one positive, we got to make use of the brand new 4 bike hitch and bike rack on the back of our car!

Brand New bike rack!

 Race Recap
I started off the swim great, I was only a few seconds off from last year, so I was pleasantly surprised. 31:36 for a mile.

In T1 I was 2 minutes faster than last year, which was great considering it's a .25 mile run uphill after the swim on a rocky path back to transition.

On the bike I got started strong down the screaming downhill and started a good pace.  Unfortunately, things headed downhill from there.  My odometer wasn't working so I started focusing on that instead of riding and then at some point in the first 5 miles I developed a searing pain in my glute.  I know a pain in my ass and OMG was it.  I felt like couldn't peddle, it hurt to sit in the saddle, I couldn't stretch it out.  By the time we got to the uphill side of the ride I wanted to cry. I also wanted to get off my bike, throw it in a ditch and beat it with a baseball bat.  Needless to say, it was some pain.  I made it up Bruning Hill which is a final 2 mile uphill and the last push to transition and started to get off and wanted to see if I could run.  I was already limping along and mentally I had given up.  The 6.2 mile run just seemed too far, I felt like too bad of a runner to finish it, and I wanted to sit in an ice bucket.  So for the first time ever, I gave up.  I spoke to the medic and he advised turning in my chip and sitting in ice.  So, I turned in my chip and got an ice pack and waited for my pals to finish.

Fortunately, I have a fantastic boyfriend and friends who were encouraging.  The race kicked off the week of heat and humidity and we dealt with some serious heat and humidity during the race.  Afterwards, we went home and sat in a cold pool. It was seriously wonderful.  My boyfriend even offered to share his medal with me, he said I could have the swim image since technically he never swam during the race.

I think the Litchfield Hills Course is gorgeous, but it has beaten me, abd I think if we tackle it again next year, the better half and I may tackle it as a team.  But, I will not give up on the Olympic distance....yet. However, that means putting in the training and setting goals.