Pre Tri Nerves

Yikes.

My first (albeit by far the easiest) sprint triathlon of the season is tomorrow. It will be fourth tri, but I'm still nervous. Plus it's an hour drive away and starts at 7am! Who plans these things? I mean I AM a morning person but this is crazy. I have to wake up at 5:00am, be out of the house in 15-20 minutes to get there in time to register, get my gear in order and psyche out my competitors.

Hah! Psyche out my competitors! This tri isn't even timed it's so easy. It's actually called Tri For Fun. How hard can it be?

But still, I am not in the greatest of shape. And I have this bad habit of racing instead of, well,...just going along, I guess. Especially during the swim, I am incapable of allowing anyone to actually swim past me. I have to keep up. Sometimes I keep sprinting even when I am passing most everyone else. I can't help myself! But then I'm toast - all panty and heaving and ho-ing when I get out of the water. On the other hand, I don't really use my arms again for the rest of the tri, so why save them?

Then comes....the dreaded ride. Usually I'm huffing along on my 15 year old mountain bike while slick road bikes whiz past. But not this time! This time I've got my new, super duper, lightweight, yellow road bike! Hopefully I'll be faster and the ride will be easier, but either way I'll LOOK like I'm a good cyclist.

Finally, the run. The "OK, I'm almost done" part of the event. The "If I can just get half way there, the way back will be cake" part. The "Oh Boy! I'm almost done!" (endorphins rushing) part of the race. The "I did it! I am so awesome!" part. It is physically painful, but the emotional benefits of the run are great.

So tonight, I drink my sleepytime tea and head to bed early. A short date with David Copperfield (the book - can't figure out how to underline things yet) and hopefully off to dreamland by 9:30 or 10:00.

Thank you blog. I don't feel nervous anymore.

Wish me luck!