Confessions of a Closet Athlete: Sign Up Day for Barb's Race 2014

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Sign Up Day for Barb's Race 2014

Registration for the 2014 Vineman events opens tomorrow. While Vineman 70.3 will sell out quickly, Barb's Race does not fill up quite as fast. Nevertheless, I plan on signing up first thing tomorrow morning! I can't wait to commit to doing the race again and I know some of my teammates are just as excited. I might even have the honor of racing with my daughter!

Time to sign up!

Feels So Good

It's hard to put into words the sense of accomplishment I have from completing Barb's Race this year. Crossing the finish line was such an incredible experience that I wish I could re-live it over and over. Maybe that's why I can't even bring myself to take the number off of my bike!

If Rosa decides to buy my bike, I promise to take the number off

In my closet I have my race packet and the number off of my helmet

My cap, lap bracelet, and finisher's medal reside
in a special cabinet

Here is an excerpt from "Iron War: Dave Scott, Mark Allen, and the Greatest Race Ever Run". The author, Matt Fitzgerald, does a much better job of explaining the incredible feeling of completing a triathlon...

I'm addicted...I want this feeling over and over and over...

You Can Do It

Yay! Done with the swim

Last night I was talking to Nancy after swim practice and she expressed a concern about being able to complete Barb's Race. This is normal. I was concerned myself after I signed up last year. I kept finding ways to test myself to see if I could do it...most of it revolved around the swim...my biggest worry.

I signed up for an Olympic distance triathlon to prove to myself that I could handle the swim. I signed up for a second Olympic distance race to prove to myself that the first race wasn't a fluke! At swim practice I would try and swim the race distance non-stop. No matter how many times I passed my own personal "tests", I still doubted my ability to complete the race. Maybe this is why completing it still feels so good :-)

If you could have seen me finishing the run at Barb's Race, you would have seen someone absolutely exhausted! As I ran down the final stretch before turning into the high school, my run had developed into a weird, hobbling gait. Every fiber in my body begged me to walk. However, the street was lined with cheering spectators urging me along.

The encouragement of strangers pushed me to the finish line, and once I crossed, I could not stop smiling. Accepting a challenge, training for it, and then completing it is an absolutely amazing feeling! I wish I could describe it better, but I can't. The only way for you to understand this feeling is to commit to a race (it doesn't have to be Barb's) and go for it!