A year and a half ago, I completely busted up my knee. Six months ago I started training again.

This Sunday I’m doing my first triathlon in two years, and I am so glad to be back.

I’ve found that over the past couple of months as I’ve gotten further into my training, I’ve been checking off a lot of those “You know you’re a triathlete when….” boxes. I always thought they were bullshit cliches, but here I am, realizing that they’re real. I now know I’m a triathlete because…(oh god, here it goes)

• My baggage for any out of town trip includes running gear and goggles. Sometimes even a bike.
• Bonk Breaker and Cliff bars count as a major food groups
• I take more showers at the gym than at home
• I’ve blown a snot rocket in public just out of pure habit (gross…sorry, I know)
• My bike is worth almost as much as my car (but that’s not saying much for either of them)
• I have more than one type of heart rate monitor
• The idea of kona makes my heart skip a beat
• I don’t spend money on workout clothes because of all the race shirts I have
• My bikes take up more living space than my desk
• I would rather own a pair of Sidis than a pair of Christian Louboutins
• My collection of jerseys has grown larger than my collection of jeans
• Late nights out have become not as fun. I need to wake up and train.
• My favorite subreddits are r/running, r/swimming, r/triathlon, and r/bicycling
• I have awful “farmer” tan lines.
• I drink protein shakes in the shower.
• I always have laundry to do. And none of it is ever “real” clothes.
• I have an ongoing debate in my head of whether my next wheelset should have Chris King or White Industries Hubs.
• I’d rather spend $200 on a new helmet than a new Michael Kors purse

Wow. This is embarrassing.

Post. 

I guess that’s what they say. Spandex, aero helmet, and all….

Welp, that’s almost a relief. Ironman National Harbor 70.3 was cancelled effective today. It looks like I’ll be receiving a full refund and $50 off certain half-ironman events this summer.

Check it out.  http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/National_Harbor_70.3_called_off_2734.html

The race directors didn’t give a solid reason of why the race was cancelled. It seemed like there were plenty of people signed up, so I’m not sure it has anything to do with lack of participation. Maybe it had to do with the course? Or maybe the venue and their uncertainty of what happened with the hot chocolate run last year? Perhaps they just wanted to follow the trend of cancelled triathlons in the region?

So to the race director, regardless of why you cancelled it, my knees thank you.

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5/11/2012: Update
I received the following email in my inbox yesterday. Turns out it was due to lack of participating, which I did not expect. Here’s the email.

Dear Athlete,

The Ironman 70.3National Harbor Triathlon was cancelled because not enough athletes were registered for the event.

Initially we kept quiet because Ironman asked us to stay silent, not post anything on social media and not send out any press releases so that the damage to Ironman’s brand would be minimized. We were fools to agree and that was a big mistake on our part.

We should have communicated immediately and told you the reason from the start. We have nothing to hide from the truth and were just initially intimidated by Ironman’s request.

We apologize.

Half-Ironman training has come to a standstill. My knees are wrecked. They ache and hurt, yet still the stubborn pollock in me still decides to push myself too much sometimes. And like a bad one-night stand, I always regret it the day after.

I’ve had to ask myself lately if the payoff is worth the reward when it comes to training.

At what point do I throw in the towel and say this isn’t worth it? Why must I put myself through all of this useless pain?

The Ironman Dropout

Unfortunately, I feel that time has come. I’ve decided to stop running, and therefore will be unable to participate in the half-ironman at National Harbor this summer.  While I may be giving up running, I know I can still continue pushing myself in other disciplines. Fortunately, biking and running are still pretty easy on the joints.

While it really sucks to realize I won’t be accomplishing this goal anytime soon, I’m comforted by the fact that my knees will be thanking me ten years from now. I’ve seen people with knee pain due to their activities over the years and figure that while being able to do something I enjoy now would be wonderful, it is better off for my body in forty years from now to abstain from it.

Staying Positive

The only way not to get bummed out about being unable to do this race is to stay positive. I may not get that medal and be able to say I’m a half-ironman, but I will be able to bike, spend more time doing yoga and climbing, and still maintain my fitness without wrecking my knees.

It’s not like because of my inability to do this race that I’m going to label myself a quitter, I just have to realize sometimes things don’t work out. Like my sister said when she was only 4 years old, “life ain’t fair”. So true.

Lately I’ve been working on hampering down to log more miles and spend more time in the saddle. For those unfamiliar with long bike rides, things can get slightly uncomfortable in very sensitive areas, especially after miles and miles of friction and hours and hours spent sitting on a piece of rubber and plastic that most people wouldn’t be able to fathom sitting on for more than a minute.

How do you solve that discomfort? Chamois cream! (pronounce sham-ee, for those who are not too hip on their french pronunciation)

So I went ahead and brought some cream. DZ Nuts Bliss Women’s Chamois Cream to be specific. The interesting thing about this product was that it was women’s specific. I mean, our bikes may not be built that differently from a man’s, but our physique down there is no where close. I’m curious to see how the two would vary.

At first I was skeptical. How could cream really help my riding? Figured I’d wait and see.

A couple of days later, it had arrived. Opening the packaging just gave me a chuckle. The instructions were sexually suggestive and made an unglamorous product rather fun. Cyclists can be raunchy. Luckily, DZ Nuts figured this out and planned appropriately. Luckily, there was only a slight tingling sensation which actually felt more like a clean tingling sensation. Sounds gross, but hey, this is a review for cream you put on your butt, not for something glamorous. Most importantly, it didn’t feel gooey and it didn’t sting or smell. Delightful. Time for the two hour ride test.

Riding didn’t feel too much different. A little more wiggle room for movement, but that was the only thing really noticeable at first. I did notice however, that when the hour and a half mark hit I wasn’t lifting my butt out of the saddle every few minutes to rest i miei derriere. At two hours, I wasn’t uncomfortable at all. Success.

So bottom line is, while its not going to make you go faster, you’ll sure feel more comfortable while you try to.

As a side note. Frigg you Amazon. You’ve got me again. One-click will be the death of my checking account. That’s all.