Last Sunday, a large group of my teammates competed at PT Nationals in Santa Cruz. Of the 23 total team members, 19 competed. Two of the remaining four are on their way to Rio shortly, so they may have opted out of Nationals to keep training for Rio. All of this means that I was literally the odd man out of Nationals from the Dare2Tri teams.
For those of you who have been reading my blog, you know of the struggles I’ve had this year. A short synopsis for those of you who haven’t is 2 races with flats, equipment delays and challenges while training. It hasn’t been the year that I had envisioned or hoped it would be. So knowing that I hadn’t qualified for Nationals, I could look at the situation from the normal glass half empty or glass half full scenario.
Instead I choose to look at it from a glass present scenario. What I mean by that is the opportunity to do triathlons in general, and Nationals (and beyond) might not even be there. If it weren’t for the tremendous support of Dare2Tri and my coaches, none of what I have done, do or will do, would be possible.
So even though I wasn’t at Nationals this year, I know it will happen very soon. My goal is to be there in 2017, and I’ve started to build a pencil schedule around that goal. Once I know where a few Tetris pieces will fall, I’ll work on a final one. And I know that I’ve got the coaches and support system to help me reach that goal for 2017, as well as a VERY strong desire not to be the odd man out again.
While I wasn’t there, my teammates did an AMAZING job. IIRC, 5 National Champions and a lot of total hardware!
And while I’m starting to think about 2017, my focus is on the PT Mid-East Regionals this coming Sunday. The event is the Chicago Triathlon, where Lake Michigan kicked my ass last September. I’m looking for redemption in the water and a strong showing overall! For those of you who want to follow me through the Race App, my bib is 4055.
