Race Envy

Despite my big plans back in July and August, my fall racing plans have fallen through for a number of reasons. I can't complain because I've been plenty busy with other things, but I can't help but feel just a teensy bit jealous of all of you gearing up for your fall races.

I did have one race besides my pathetically slow 5K though! I forgot to tell y'all about the triathlon relay I did last month. Before I got married (and moved an hour away from the closest indoor pool), I did sprint triathlons on a pretty regular basis. I've said it before, but triathlons are so. much. fun. When I've got access to train in a pool, I'd like to work my way up to an Olympic distance triathlon and a half-ironman, but that won't be anytime in the foreseeable future.

I had never participated in a triathlon relay though and was so excited to get an invitation this summer to be the swim leg in a relay at the beach in September. (My husband was not as thrilled...triathlons make even less sense to him than marathons because of all the gear and logistics and set-up required. I have to give him credit though because he was trooper and was at the race site at 5:45 a.m. with me.)

The swim was in the channel and I was a little nervous because I had never swam in the channel before, it was a little chilly, and my training had been somewhat sporadic. (Think random YMCA visits while visiting family and going on day trips + swimming laps in tiny hotel pools while out of town.) Once we got in though, the swim was great and I felt really good about it. I guess my teammates had lower expectations because they were THRILLED with my time and that made me pretty happy too.

My teammates invited me to swim with them again in Beach to Battleship Half-Ironman that's today, but I wasn't able to do so, which is why I guess my case of race envy is kicking in now. Oh well...maybe I should at least get out of my pajamas and channel that envy into a run!