Best for Last?

My last race of the season was the Chester River 5K in Chestertown, MD, which I did with my daughter in November. My performance was okay for me, given the limited training I'd been able to do, and, interestingly, my time was exactly the same as my time for run portion of the Smithfield 5K in April. But the best part was that I was two minutes faster than my daughter. We started together, but after the first mile, she told me to go ahead (because she had trained even less than I had), and I was waiting for her at the finish line. A few years ago, when we were doing another race together and someone asked how her training was going, she shrugged and said, "I don't have to train much to keep up with Mom." Well, the first thing she said after finishing was, "I'm going back to the gym on Monday."

A Lost Season

When I renewed my USAT membership this year, I expected to do at least three triathlons, and I was thinking this season might be my last one. First up was the Smithfield Sprint in April. I got a special “PR” for my slowest time ever in that event. A combination of work, family obligations, and inclement weather had hampered my training, and I wasn’t surprised, or discouraged, that my performance reflected that. I enjoyed participating and seeing friends I hadn’t seen since the 2012 season. Anticipating fewer obstacles to my training, I expected to do better as the season continued. After a 5K run in Omaha in early May, in which my time was both improved and respectable (for me), I was looking forward to my summer triathlon choices. Before I registered for any of them, however, my elderly parents’ declining health intervened, derailing my plans. I spent much of my summer in Iowa – getting my parents settled in a nursing home there, cleaning out and packing up the house they’d lived in for over 60 years. I got plenty of exercise moving boxes, but had little opportunity to swim, bike, or run. Occasionally, back in RVA between trips, I contemplated doing a triathlon, but I hesitated to enter because I lacked the energy and time to train properly. I did not want to repeat my Smithfield experience, where I’d been in good enough condition to finish, but not to do as well as I would have liked. So, July and August races passed by, undone. There are still triathlons I possibly could do before the 2013 season ends, but I doubt I will do them. Even though I’ve started my regular training regimen again, I’m a long way from being ready to compete, and there are more trips to Iowa in my immediate future. Maybe there will be another season for me, maybe not. I’ll appreciate the memories of past seasons, though, and always be glad I tried.