Latta Sprint Triathlon

Well, I never thought I would really do another triathlon, but here I am.  Latta was a team event for One2Tri Racing, so I committed to participate along with my other teammates.  I know what you're thinking: "You're on the One2Tri Racing Team and don't do triathlons??!  What on Earth did you think the 'TRI' part stood for??"  Well, there are actually a few of us non-tri types on the team who either just run or do adventure races - and I'm one of the runners.  But I'll try anything twice!  I've actually been doing more biking anyway, so it was just a matter of seeing what I could do in the water.  I'm very comfortable in the water - I could spend all day in the water at the beach - and I know how to swim, I just don't do it well.  OK, that's being charitable. I'm terrible.

Quick story: about 6 years ago I thought I would give triathlons a go.  I decided if I was going to do it, I would be serious about it and took swimming lessons.  In addition, I was in the pool practicing 3 times a week and doing open-water swims.  And I actually fared pretty well as a novice (not to be confused with doing well).  After about 5 races, I realized it wasn't for me.  Plus it was tough from a time standpoint to train for 3 events and remain happily married and gainfully employed.  So I called it quits after the Lake Norman Tri in 2005.  For some reason, I signed up for Lake Norman in 2006.  In that intervening year, I literally did not swim once.  And I was 9 seconds faster out the water in 2006.  Go figure.  I thought, all that time I put into swim practice - what a terrible return on my investment.  I could have been taking minutes off my bike and run times!

One2Tri Racing Team

But, as I said, this was a team event.  I had been taking swimming lessons again with my coach, Nicole (who is also the head coach for One2Tri Multisport Coaching) and she is fantastic.  If anyone could make progress with me, it's Nicole.  She couldn't.  There were 34 men in my age group.  I was 34th out of the water.  I made up some ground on the bike and the run to finish 22nd in my AG.  At first, I was thrilled that NO ONE had passed me on the bike or the run - then I realized there was practically no one behind me!  Respectable, but a stark reminder of why I gave up the sport in 2006.  My finishing time was 1:41:58.  Anyone up for a long run??!