Training for endurance events is a commitment that often requires making sacrifices. Sacrifices that affect you. Sacrifices that affect your family. Sacrifices that affect your body. I’m currently training upwards of 10 hours a week for my half Ironman this fall, and it’s easy to ask ourselves (or perhaps most people ask us this): Is it worth it?

Races like the one I finished today confirm my resounding answer: YES!

Races (and many training workouts) are often not comfortable in the moment. One side of your brain is taunting you to quit when it gets really hard, while the other part is telling you to dig deep and find your guts. You’re often not sure what you can do until you do it. Surpassing what you thought you were capable of and proving to yourself that you can be more. Better. Your best. Not every time. But on the good days. Training and racing isn’t easy. Most of the time it rudely elbows its way around our everyday life, sometimes even bullying our loved ones. But at the end of the day, when we can see hard work pay off, it’s always worth it. Strong mind. Strong body. Stronger heart.

Today, I competed in the PT Solutions Acworth Women’s Sprint Triathlon. This past week has been a recovery week for me (every 4 weeks I reduce my mileage about 10% to recover from the previous 3 weeks of hard training). Since my weekend brick (bike + run) only called for a 1-hour bike followed by a 20-minute run, I thought it would be the perfect time to do a sprint triathlon and get in a little transition practice. I was also curious to see how my training (which has been more intense and more disciplined than any other triathlon season) has been paying off.

Apparently, it’s working.

Somehow, I ended up on the podium after the race today. And not just for a funny photo opp. I know, I know. This is NOT familiar territory for me. I’m momentarily dismissing the fact that this race has a smaller field of just 400 women, attracts a lot of first-timers, newbies and more casual triathletes and does not have an elite field. I’m sticking to the story that I placed in my age group because I’m training hard and getting stronger, not because all the fast people don’t do this race. *Mysterious voiceover: “Enough with the self-deprecation, already!*

Top Highlights from Race Day

(Warning: Some contents of this list are unladylike and may not be suitable for prudes.)

• I placed 3^rd in my age group and 15^th overall. I feel this result is directly correlated with my strong training plan and discipline this season. The first place woman overall was 8 minutes faster than me.

• I ran a 7:53 average pace during the run on a very hilly course. Have I mentioned I despise hills and typically avoid them at all costs?
• The porta-potties were shockingly clean with no lines. (Thank you women’s only races.) I would know because I went 3 times before the race started. And without pee all over the seats from the gentlemen, it made pre-race pooping a lot easier. Just saying.
• I got to meet Swim Bike Mom while waiting for the swim to begin and then again after the race. She is one cool chick and you should check her out. Meeting other fitness bloggers in real life makes me happy.
• I got to see my friend Stacy and her husband who got me into triathlon back in 2006 and taught me everything about the sport when I first started. We haven’t done a triathlon together since 2009. I also got to see many of my triathlon friends from the Atlanta community who came out to cheer us on. Awesome spectators make such a positive difference.

• I got kicked in the head during the swim. Thankfully, it made me temporarily forget how hard I was breathing.
• I peed on my towel in T1 (transition between swim and bike). Yep. When will I stop going to the bathroom during races when and where I’m not supposed to? I had to pee before the race and I had planned to go in the lake while I was swimming. But for some reason my body would not allow me to pee while swimming. So I did the next best thing. I peed on my transition towel while putting on my cycling shoes. I got 3^rd in my age group by just 10 seconds. That’s what I get for being so unladylike. At least no one can call me dehydrated!

• I got tie-dyed race bling. How cool and unique is that?

• After the race, I ate a small cheese pizza. In the car. While driving the 4 miles home from the pizza place to pick it up. Question #1: Wouldn’t most normal human beings be able to wait the 10 minutes to get home before devouring an entire pizza? Question #2: Did I really need to eat a whole pizza after completing a race that only lasted 1 hour and 16 minutes?

The Swim (400 Yards): 00:7:20

The swim was a wave start by age group, requiring us to run into the lake and swim a rectangular course.

I started at the front of my wave and had good personal space for most of the swim. Even around the buoys it wasn’t too crowded. I was breathing heavy during the entire swim. I exited the water after 6 minutes and 58 seconds. The total swim time includes the run out of the water and around the gates into the transition area.

Transition 1: 00:01:32 (Yes, this includes peeing in my transition area and could have likely been about 15-20 seconds faster.)

The Bike (13 miles): 00:42:17/18.5 miles per hour
The bike course was quite hilly, with both some small gradual inclines and steeper sections. I rode the majority of the bike in aero position since there were very few turns. I felt winded throughout the majority of the bike and my quads were burning a bit. I tried to catch my breath on the downhill sections but refrained from doing any coasting. The bike is where I want to focus my greatest attention during the next 2 months. I would love to consistently finish in 19 mph or faster.

Transition 2: 00:00:52

The Run: 24:29 (7:53/mile)
Thank God I had completely blocked from my memory how hilly this run course was. From the very first half mile, we climbed incline after incline. Luckily, the weather remained overcast despite high humidity. The only person who passed me on the run was the girl who came in second in my age group during the last 600 meters or so, beating me by 10 seconds. I tried to hang onto her but as we approached the final hill, I mentally and physically let her go. I’m still kicking myself a bit for that, but I’m glad to have run sub-8s. The hills were also good practice for Hood to Coast later this month.

Total time: 1:16:29
The last time I did this race was in 2007. It was the 4^th triathlon I ever did. It was fun to look back at my time for that race, which was 1:24:07. Big improvement from 6 years ago!

Nutrition and Hydration:
Many of you have shared that you’d like to know more about fueling and race day nutrition. Here’s a quick peek at what my nutrition and hydration plan looked like for the Acworth Women’s Sprint Triathlon:

The night before the race:

• 4 ounces of grilled chicken breast, a heavily salted baked potato and French bread (nearly no fiber, good protein and carbs)
• Throughout the day, I drank 50 ounces of Cherry Limeade Nuun and several bottles of water)

2.5 hours before the race:

• 1 scrambled egg for protein (heavily salted)
• 1 cup of steel cut oats with 1 banana (carbs and low-glycemic sugars)
• 12 to 16 ounces water (spiked with half of a tab of Cherry Limeade Nuun)

During the race:
I consumed 100 calories of Black Cherry Clif Shot Bloks during the last mile of the bike (around the 51-minute mark) and an entire aero bottle of Cherry Limeade Nuun during the 42 minutes I was on the bike. Both contain a little caffeine.

Immediately after the race:
The Acworth Women’s Sprint Triathlon has a lovely post-race tent with a beautiful homemade spread that even included a chocolate fondue fountain. I kept it simple though.

• 20 ounces of water
• 6 ounces of yogurt
• Berries
• 1 mini blueberry muffin

All in all, it was a successful training day at the Acworth Women’s Sprint Triathlon. Another brick completed and a tie-dyed trophy. What more could a girl ask for?

What is the coolest race bling you’ve ever gotten? What races do you have coming up on your race schedule?