Chris's "Second" Triathlon

The reason the word Second is in quotes in the title is because, despite being in a triathlon the first time, solo, in Sept of 2007, this time, i was part of a relay team in the Finger Lakes Triathlon in Canandaigua, NY. For those unfamiliar, a triathlon is an athletic event comprising of, back-to-back: swimming, biking and running (in that order). A Sprint triathlon's distance is 1.5 mi. swim, 13 mi. bike, 3.1 mi. run. This is the distance i am talking about in both instances.

The "Corning Gals."Relay-mates from RIGHT: Pam and Maria. [Mikki, next to me, went solo.]

The initial draft of this post went on and on with the details of why i was on a relay team this year vs. going solo again. Solo was the plan when i registered in January. "Life" intervened, primarily including painful heel spurs and lack of training. By July, I was in disappointing acknowledgment that it would be asinine to kid myself and compete. So i bowed out.



But then friends from Wegmans lost their relay biking teammate and i thought it was the perfect compromise. I could bike 13 mi - albeit very SLOWLY, but i could do it - and i wouldn't have to run on my feet. So i agreed.

... And i was indeed VERY slow; my first bike tri time was 1:02. This year... well... add on 20 min. :-/ Boo hiss. One of the slowest bike times in the whole tri, actually. But i never dismounted! Halle-freakin-luia on that, at least.

It was a fun day!! It was nice to be around so many green/white Wegmans jerseys and to know I was a part of a team, literally and figuratively. I was proud of my relay-mates. And while [slowly] biking, I really enjoyed watching the rolling green hills, the corn fields swaying in the perfect September breeze. The weather was very friendly to all of us.

The Wegmans Team!

I do feel, however, in my heart of hearts, that triathlon is something that I'd prefer to do alone. There is a thrill i love feeling in accomplishing all three sports in one event. I will not make promises of competing again, but I can feel I'll always be drawn to it...