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Yesterday was my first Olympic race in a long, long time - and the first one in 2 years I actually had fun at. The only other Olympic I even had the trace of thinking, "hey this is ACTUALLY the best" is Lobsterman wayyy back when sophomore year.
Last season was pretty much the worst - between getting hit by that car, losing my will to train, slipping into lazy eating-ice cream-on-the-couch mindset and hating my "twitchy" new bike...well, I never thought I was going to love racing again. After all, racing hurts. And who likes to do things that hurts?
But after a summer of running hills, biking long, winding roads, and swimming in lakes in NH I'm finally back to my old self. Just as competitive, headstrong, and masochistic as ever, and that's the way I prefer me. In addition, I'm the fastest at running I've ever been! That's just a perk, though.
So yesterday I relished that pre-race nauseous feeling I get as soon as I put on my wet suit. I loved the countdown from 1 minute at the starting line when every fast twitch in my muscle is preparing to fire. I broke into a smiled when the gun went off and I shoved my way down to the water. And when I got that stomach ache I always get on the bike from ingesting way too much salt water? Pure joy.
I always get this Chrissie Wellington smile on the bike, which is my absolute favorite part of racing because it's the only time when I actually pass people the whole time - and the only people who pass me are boys with Zipp Wheels and carbon fiber TT bikes. And the 35+ year old women who completely kick ass.
So it was exactly like my first season when I felt on top of the world and racing was the only thing I wanted to do on weekends. Only this time I passed people on the run instead of being continuously passed by other girls in my age group - and the whole thing flew by. I suppose the good thing about marathon training is anything under 8 miles hardly counts as a run.
I could name a million things about racing I love, but I think the thing I love best is racing with my teammates. Just seeing them going all out on the course makes everything just that much better. Only I absolutely hate it when the boys pass me and disappear in the distance.
Speaking of teammates, I think all of my favorite people are on the tri team because no one else understands why I prefer waking up at 4 am to race in freezing water and torture myself over drinking, sleeping in, and doing the elliptical at FitRec. All of us finish after 2+ hours of going all out and the first thing we say is, "THAT WAS THE BEST!" ...even though we all crash, throw up, get kicked, burn out, cramp, and bonk.

It's definitely a lifestyle, not just a weekend thing.

Til next race ;)

Love love love,
me

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