A triathlete?

I did my first triathlon 2 years ago this spring.  It was the Ramblin' Rose, and it satisfied my goal of doing a tri before I turned 40 (of course, in triathlon, you actually "age up" to whatever age group you'll be that calendar year, so although I was still 39, I raced with a big fat "40" on the back of my calf!).  So my first mini-sprint was done, and I liked it!  But I didn't do any more that year.  I did sign up for it again the following year, and took on another super sprint at one of the local wellness centers.  I loved it, and found that I actually finished higher up in the bunch than I do in road races.

This year I finally got the swimming thing down.  That was always my biggest struggle, and the thing that actually kept me from doing one in the first place.  I figured it out, at long last, and did the Ramblin' Rose for my 3rd time this year, coming in 11th in my age group (out of more than 100 other women), and nailing a PR!  Feeling good, I signed up for my first open water sprint (and a legit sprint at that, not a super sprint!), which is in 2.5 weeks!  My stretch goal for this year is to do an International in September... which is right around the damned corner!

So what's funny is this - I've been running off and on for 20 years.  I consider myself a "runner".  In spite of the fact that I'm apparently better at triathlon than I am at running, I've been really reluctant to call myself a triathlete.  Maybe because "runner" sounds like something you do, you can do it for fun, for sport, be good or just ok, but you run, therefore you're a run-ner.  Triathlete has the word "athlete" in it, and it just feels a little cocky to refer to yourself as an athlete.  I'm fit, I compete (sorta), I do athletic things... but "athlete" sounds very ... not what I look like!

After this weekend, though... I feel ok saying it.  Instead of saying "I like to do triathlons" or "I run and I've done some triathlons", I feel ok saying "I'm a triathlete".  The Boy (who is also a triathlete, damnit!) and I did a 10 mile bike ride on Friday,  and then Mommy hit the pool for 1000 m while he played with a friend (there was supervision!).  Saturday was a nice, hilly 11 miler in Umstead that made up for the previous weekend's sorry performance.  Sunday was a 30 mile bike (you read that right!), followed by the rubberyleggiest 15 min run (brick my ass), followed by a mini tri with The Boy, followed by some additional pool laps.  40 miles of running, 12-13 miles running, at least a mile of swimming... I'm feeling pretty triathletey right now.

And today, because this triathlete has been neglecting her strength training (where the hell do I fit THAT in?), and her hips are popping out of joint (ew!), there will be kettlebells.  Happy whatever your sport is!