Fried and Scrambled

Interesting title, eh? Will I be talking about eggs? Perhaps but there is a bit more "peeling of the onion" that I would like to do before I make it to eggs.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to race my first sprint triathlon of the season with a group of my Junior triathletes (Teens that TRI). I was extremely excited for this as I love the energy they bring to a race. My last weekend of travels took a hit on my immune system so last week was spent resting, nursing a fever and body aches, and just overall not feeling well. It wasn't until the day before the race where I decided that I would race. It was a tough decision and I knew I wouldn't be 100% but I wanted to be at the race as Coach so why not race, right!

Fried...I had an okay race. Nothing spectacular and what I would term below average for me due to my immune system. An excuse? No. I train with metrics and knew exactly what I should have been able to do in the swim, on the bike and the run and the metrics just didn't line up on race day. I didn't let the illness in my head but just felt a bit off the entire day. A bit fried, if you will. I analyzed my metrics later that day after the race and confirmed that fried was a good way to describe my overall body feeling. Numbers were low, RPE was high, economy was just off.

I expected this going into the race but what was very interesting to me was to see how much less efficiency my body would give for the day. I don't think I had ever tried to test that out in a sprint triathlon. So, overall, I see it as a very positive experience in learning more about my body's ability and mental preparation going into a race. Some may say it was not wise to do that but I approach every race as a learning opportunity. This one specifically garnered me valuable experience to not only file in the data banks for the future but also to use as a teaching tool for my Junior triathlon team.

If you are wondering, I did manage to pull off the age-group victory (by over 3 minutes) but in a race like this, I should be competing for overall, not age-group awards. Am I upset? Not at all. Sometimes a placing doesn't provide you all of the meaningful information about yourself. Wise athletes will always look deeper for the true interpretation of the day's events...

Scrambled...the highlight of this race is the post-race food. It is known within the triathlon community for an unbelievable post-race buffet and they certainly did not disappoint!  This is what I call nutrition recovery in a true metabolically efficient manner!

Enjoy your week!

Bob
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