At the Finish Line

On August 30th, about three weeks ago, I completed the Chicago Triathlon for the second time. Not the second time that day – the second time in my life. Actually the third, if you count the Super Sprint triathlon I did three years ago. Which was a good beginning to my triathlon-ing, but not even held on the same day as the main events events of the Chicago Triathlon. So we’ll leave that one off the tally. Although I wasn’t competing against anyone else besides myself, and somewhat tangentially against a former co-worker of mine, I still wanted to feel good about the performance. I was one of the first waves, with a start time of 6:12AM, so it was an early morning for sure. I jumped into the water with a great deal of trepidation – the result of some brutal training sessions getting smacked in the face with Lake Michigan. On race day, the water was bearable and I’d given myself permission to take it slow and avoid gulping down much water. I felt good about my performance for the rest of the race and ended up with a result that was a few minutes faster than my result from two years ago.

The Results

Caitlin, Ryder, and Maisy were able to come down see me cross the finish line. Almost. Due to my extraordinary performance, I actually finished the race a few minutes before they were able to get to the finish line area. What the congratulations lacked in punctuality, they more than made up for in earnest cuteness. And so, in the end everybody was happy. A good experience overall, and enough to make me think I’ll probably get myself involved with the same thing again next year.

At the Finish Line - with Ryder