I Will Tri This Year -- Maybe

It's been a full year since my triathlon training went haywire because of the Great Sickness of 2010. I could link to it but honestly don't feel like digging up the pneumonia-filled memories that plagued my life and my blog for several months.

Anyway, when I became sick, I had to recover and get my lungs back up to speed. Even after a few months I wasn't a sure thing, and my triathlon last August was pretty miserable: after a great swim my asthma kicked in -- likely because of the chest cold I had fought the week before -- and I ended up walking/trotting the run and promptly getting escorted to the medic tent when I crossed the finish line.

Prior to that, I full out quit a race in the middle of it because I just didn't want to race.

I haven't been excited about triathlons.

So it kinda surprised me and Brian when I signed up for a triathlon I swore I'd never do again, Pleasant Prairie.

I realized I'm already practicing three sports in my workout routine and have accepted, because I"m not really training, my time won't be as good. And that's OK. Admittedly, I also wanted to make sure I kept a part of "me" -- people know me for triathlons now! -- while I did all this wedding stuff. My part time job is the wedding, but I don't want it to completely define me this year.

Part of me signed up because I have a couple friends doing their first tris this year. A big part of me chose that race because it's at the end of June, which still gives me a couple months to heal before the wedding in case anything happens (knock on wood). And ultimately, I just don't want to skip a year of tri. They say you can call yourself a triathlete as long as you do one tri a year. Well, I'm fulfilling that requirement.

I also want the T-shirt.

You might be wondering why I hate the Pleasant Prairie race. My main gripe is the horrible swim conditions. Sure, it's in "beautiful Lake Andrea" which is "warm and spring-fed." But the lanes are poorly marked,  causing swimmers from two directions to collide. You also race into the sun. If you haven't raced into the sun during morning hours, while wearing goggles and while dodging swimmers from the other direction coming at you, you're missing a whole new ballgame. 

I also didn't like the parking situation or the food, but whatever. It's a triathlon that's placed perfectly according to my wedding schedule. I'm in!

(The "maybe" component to my headline is my recognizing that I just might not mentally want to do it. My rule is it has to be fun, and if it's not, screw it.)