Faster Than Your Eyes Can Blink

Take a millisecond to blink and...it's over! That is how this season felt.  I started racing in the end of February and finished up my last race about a week and a half ago at the end of October--I never thought 8 months could feel so fast (hopefully it goes that way when I'm pregnant someday?).

I originally gave myself a November 1st deadline for this post...wanting to have the season fresh in my mind and not let too much time pass before I took a second to reflect on the past 8 months...but of course, I procrastinated--mostly because I hate goodbyes and I feel like this is somewhat of a goodbye (or at least I'm hoping).  No, I'm not saying goodbye to triathlon, this sport can't shake me that quickly, I hope to be saying goodbye to the "rookie-ness".  I hope I can take all that I learned from this season and apply it to next year and the year after that...etc.  The reason I write race reports (and encourage others to do so) is not because I feel like a self-important celebrity who has millions of fans and followers, it's because I like to look back on the past and take lessons from it.  Each race has so many lessons and it is so easy to forget all of them.  When I started this blog it was private so NO ONE could read it and I would write how I felt at different races and what I ate beforehand so I could look at it later and see what worked for me.  I have since archived those blog posts somewhere offline so that no one can read how ridiculous my thoughts are before, during and after races. I still look back at those offline posts and even at the posts on here and read valuable nuggets that I wouldn't necessarily remember had I not written them down!

Aside from the performance benefits of documenting your races, it really is fun to look back and reflect on different trips and experiences throughout the triathlon season.  All triathletes, no matter the distance or level of racing, put their heart & souls into their training.  Many people go to bed early, refuse that shot of vodka, and stay in on Friday nights, all for the sake of training.  There are definite costs associated with training and racing--what better way to know the sacrifice will pay off and "keep your head in the game" than to look back at the highlights of your trips to races and your racing experience.  I get super stoked when I look back at posts from good races or even just fun trips that didn't necessarily have my best race attached.  When I am having one of those days where I say to myself, "What am I doing with my life?" I have all of these great accounts to look back on and realize I'm having fun with my life!

So now that you understand the why...here is the what...What happened this season? What lessons did I learn? What do I look forward to next season?

What happened:
I raced my "rookie" season and made lots of "rookie" mistakes, but also had a blast learning and living! (for a more detailed report...there are many blog posts from the season :) )

Lessons I learned:
-It's not as easy as it looks to put together a race where all three sports turn out to be stellar performances
-I'm NOT invincible, care needs to be taken to give my body the recovery it requires to match my level of desire and drive
-Focusing on training and racing does not equal shutting out the rest of your life outside of training and racing

What I look forward to:
-Taking the racing experience I gained this season and applying to all of my races next season--hopefully yielding some new results (and new lessons) !
-Taking a different approach to training: being mindful of the recovery work and workouts, not just the quality sessions; not putting blinders on towards the rest of my life, consider the whole picture
-Something I look forward to always: making new memories, and learning new lessons

So, the moral of the story... stop and smell the roses, create tiny pieces of your experiences that you can look back on and be thankful for!

Photo Highlights!

Thank you so much to my coach, Brian Grasky (graskyendurance.com), for great season with lots of improvement and more to come in the future!!

Thank you to my sponsors, XTERRA wetsuits and Trisports.com...getting me all the right gear to race fast this season!

Thank you to my family who has always supported me in my athletic endeavors.
And, of course, thank you to my wonderful boyfriend and biggest supporter, Lucas <3

Here's to the off-season! (Even if it is only a week or two ;) )


@nicoletruxes