I’m back from Las Vegas and my first triathlon of the 2010 season.

Last Thursday I headed out to Vegas to compete at the Rage Triathlon. After an interesting flight I landed to warm weather and one armed bandits. A quick ride from the airport to the Hacienda Casino and I was settled in with my race mate Barb.

Next day found us headed to packet pickup and I was faced with my big dilemma for this trip…to do the Long Course or the Sprint…

I know- you’re probably thinking- What???  Not do the Long Course????  Yeap.  I was thinking long and hard about not doing the Long Course, and opting for the Sprint instead. 

You see, I’ve had a pretty challenging year so far, and in the 3 weeks leading up to Rage, I found myself in a funk without much “umph” to do anything that required effort.  I completed all my workouts, but the “umph” was missing. 

I was talking to my coach telling her I had NO desire, whatsoever to do the Long Course.  As we were talking I mentioned that it might be “fun” to do the Sprint instead.  And that’s when I decided that for me, at this point in the season, I needed to have some FUN!  I thought about how FUN it would be to not have to worry about what I ate and drank for 2 days before the race.  I thought of being done in 1.5 hours instead of 6 hours.  I thought about not having to worry about being rested enough the night before…..You get the picture. 

So the decision was made to race the Sprint.  But there I was standing at packet pick-up having to say out loud “No I won’t be doing the long course.  I’m going to do the Sprint instead.”  This about KILLED me!  I felt like such a wimp for not doing the Long Course!  I made a quick call to my coach to talk about this and she reminded me that I just needed to have some fun this trip and I had plenty season left for the longer races. OK- Sprint it was then!

Early Morning on Lake Mead

I’m sooooo glad I opted for the Sprint.  I had such a FUN time in Vegas.  I was able to meet a friend at 6pm the night before the race (never would have been out that late the night before a long course!), I didn’t have to make sure I was drinking plenty of water or eating something that might bother my stomach.  I didn’t have to worry if I got a good nights sleep.  I could just have FUN!

And fun I had!!!  The Sprint was a BLAST!  And it was such a trip.  I mean my last race was an Ironman- and here I was going balls to the wall from the moment the gun went off.  As I was racing I noticed how different a sprint is.  I never found that comfortable pace.  A sprint just plain hurts from start to finish!  You start fast and just go faster!  I really liked it!  Plus, being done in 1.5 hours was an added bonus. 

The weekend was great!  I had a blast and had tons of fun!  I raced well, placed 1st in Age Group (by 10 minutes) and 15th Over All (out of 87). 

Post Race FUN!

What I learned from this experience is; that it’s important to be aware of your self and your needs.  I knew I wasn’t feeling the long course thing, and I figured out I needed to do the sprint.  I knew I needed to hold ‘em by racing the sprint, but I also knew I shouldn’t fold ‘em and walk away!  And by holdin ‘em I had a great race and FUN weekend!