"Happiness is the joy we feel in striving for our potential. " - Shawn Achor
My triathlon season started on Sunday with a sprint triathlon in Lake Mills Wisconsin and I almost did not get to the starting line.
I woke up Memorial Day weekend with one of the worst sore throats of my life. It has since transformed into a cold and cough. I took Saturday off to hopefully recover before the race on Sunday. I was so congested I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest.
I woke up Sunday and I did not feel any better. It was also really windy and raining. It was 4 am and I seriously considered just going back to bed.
I put the race on my schedule to get some race practise before my 1/2 iron aqua bike in two weeks.
The first open water swim of the season is always kind of rough and I wanted the practise.
The sun was coming out as I pulled into the race parking lot at 5:15. Too bad that only lasted about 10 minutes.
It was cloudy and cool as I set up in transition. I never like to hang out there, it just makes me nervous. I put on my wet suit to keep warm and went in to test out the water. It was 68 F. warmer than the air and way warmer than I expected since the spring has been so cold here.
As I chatted with other racers and waited for the start the wind was getting stronger and stronger. The waves looked bigger and bigger. I was in the 5th wave. The first two waves were first time triathletes. The water was so rough several of the swimmers turned back and dropped out of the race.
Soon it was my turn and the waves were the biggest I have ever swum in. Every time I tried to take a breath I got a face full of water. I started doing the side stroke, I felt bad about that until I saw all the women in my wave were doing the same thing. I was having a hard time catching my breath. I thought about dropping out because I was getting so tired. I could not get to the rescue kayak because the men's wave had come through the course. A wave of men was between me and the kayak I had to reach to drop out. So I just kept swimming and pretty soon I was done.
The bike course was also really windy. About 2 minutes into the bike part my bike computer stopped working. So I had no idea how fast I was or was not going. It was over pretty quickly.
The run was pretty routine. The whole race was a bit of a struggle since I did not feel well. I finished the bike with a 16 mph average and finished in 1 hr 51 good enough for 4th in my age group.
A good day to shake the rust off and be ready for my next race in two weeks. I've been training for it for months. This triathlon was a good test run.
********************
Chris
Wodke
Founder
& Manager Team CMT
www.run4cmt.com
Chris is
a triathlete and long distance runner. She is a three time participant of the
Boston Marathon. In 2012 she finished 2nd
at Boston in
the Mobility Impaired Division. She was on the course in 2013 when the bombs
exploded.
She has
appeared three times at the Paratriathlon National Triathlon Sprint
Championship. She was the 2012 and 2014 National Champion Paratriathlon Open
Division Champion.
In 2014 she was the PC Open Champion at the Duathlon National Championship. She has qualified to represent TeamUSA
at the Aquathon ITU World Championship in Chicago
in 2015 and 2016
In 2014 she was the PC Open Champion at the Duathlon National Championship. She has qualified to represent Team
In 2014 she represented the U.S.
as a paratriathlete at the Pan-American Triathlon Championship in Dallas , Texas
She travels
around the country raising awareness of CMT.
She is
the author of the book, “Running for My Life” that details her experience as a
CMT affected athlete.
Team CMT
is a group of athletes and supporters working to raise awareness and to find a cure
for CMT. We have 194 members in 36 states. We also have members in Australia , England ,Scotland , Canada ,
Vietnam , Turkey , Finland ,
Scotland , France , Poland
and Iran .
If you wish to join us visit our web site; www.run4cmt.com
or www.hnf-cure.org
CMT or
Charcot-Marie-Tooth is the most commonly inherited peripheral neuropathy. It
affects over 155,000 Americans (as many as MS). It is a disease of the
nerves that control the muscles. It is slowly progressive, causing loss of
normal function and or sensation in the lower legs/feet and arms/hands.
Symptoms
include; muscle wasting in the lower legs and feet leading to foot drop, poor
balance and gait problems Atrophy in the hands causes difficulty with manual
dexterity.
Structural
foot deformities such as high arches and hammer toes are common.
Poor
tolerance for cool or cold temperatures and many people have chronically cold
hands and feet.
Additional
symptoms may include fatigue, sleep apnea, breathing difficulties and hearing
loss.
Additional Link
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Marathon Bombing
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