It's my blog and I'll post if I want to. Today's double-post is going to mostly now take the form of a triathlon geek complaint about race scheduling. At least it's lighter fare than my earlier, profound thoughts on fatherhood.
Not that I had even signed up the race yet. Not that it was even going to be my goal race. But I didn't realize how much I was looking forward to this little sprint triathlon until I found out I wouldn't be doing it. Something about permits being pulled. It was a first-year race anyway. And everybody knows to be wary about an inaugural, untested event.
I was going to give it a try...it was cheap, it fit perfectly mid-summer on my calendar, it wasn't far away, it was small. It was my one nod to triathlon this season. Not a huge, monumental thing to train for and achieve. Not anything overly difficult. Nothing to get too nervous about. Just a sprint.
It was going to be a nice way for me to get my fix of swim-bike-run to stay connected to the sport while focusing on my fall marathon. I'd chosen it carefully. Now, I'm back to the beginning. Not knowing how I feel about it...the whole thing, I mean. Not just what race I want to do but whether to race at all. That's $100 maybe better spent elsewhere. Especially considering that the other races I'd consider are all more expensive than the one I originally picked (now canceled).
Given my lack of swimming prep up to this point, that pretty much rules out anything in July. Or, to be more clear, most of the summer races are Olympic or 70.3. So I'd be looking at a mile swim versus half a mile. In August and September around Chicago my choices are pretty much: Chicago Triathlon, TriRock Lake Geneva, or the Naperville Sprint. All things considered, I'd be most likely to thrown in with one of the first two. Chicago Triathlon is huge. A few changes have been made for this year that may help. TriRock is about 1.5 hours away and only a month before my fall 26.2 (goal race). I have until the end of this month before a price increase to register.
But hey, at least I hadn't registered yet so I'm not sitting here worrying over whether or not my entry fee refund is on the way.
Not that I had even signed up the race yet. Not that it was even going to be my goal race. But I didn't realize how much I was looking forward to this little sprint triathlon until I found out I wouldn't be doing it. Something about permits being pulled. It was a first-year race anyway. And everybody knows to be wary about an inaugural, untested event.
I was going to give it a try...it was cheap, it fit perfectly mid-summer on my calendar, it wasn't far away, it was small. It was my one nod to triathlon this season. Not a huge, monumental thing to train for and achieve. Not anything overly difficult. Nothing to get too nervous about. Just a sprint.
It was going to be a nice way for me to get my fix of swim-bike-run to stay connected to the sport while focusing on my fall marathon. I'd chosen it carefully. Now, I'm back to the beginning. Not knowing how I feel about it...the whole thing, I mean. Not just what race I want to do but whether to race at all. That's $100 maybe better spent elsewhere. Especially considering that the other races I'd consider are all more expensive than the one I originally picked (now canceled).
Given my lack of swimming prep up to this point, that pretty much rules out anything in July. Or, to be more clear, most of the summer races are Olympic or 70.3. So I'd be looking at a mile swim versus half a mile. In August and September around Chicago my choices are pretty much: Chicago Triathlon, TriRock Lake Geneva, or the Naperville Sprint. All things considered, I'd be most likely to thrown in with one of the first two. Chicago Triathlon is huge. A few changes have been made for this year that may help. TriRock is about 1.5 hours away and only a month before my fall 26.2 (goal race). I have until the end of this month before a price increase to register.
But hey, at least I hadn't registered yet so I'm not sitting here worrying over whether or not my entry fee refund is on the way.