A Montana sky over a Buckeye lake

They say a Montana sky can change at the drop of a hat...but I live in Ohio!

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The tiny ripples in the water glistened underneath the rising sun. An easy breeze blew off the sandy shore.

It was Sunday morning and the day of the inaugural TREK Women's Triathlon in Ohio at Buckeye Lake.

It would be a day that would go down in history as my favorite open water swim in a triathlon. The water temperature was perfect (80), there was no chop and - a smart, smart move on the RD's part - there were several minutes spaced between waves, giving those of us who are slower less of a chance to have to fight off more people as they caught up with us.

Though it had started out sunny and beautiful, it began becoming somewhat overcast by the time I had gotten to mile seven or eight on the bike... and then I felt it. A wet drop on the skin of my arm. "Please, Lord, hold off on that rain. Please, please!"

I didn't mind racing in the rain, but I was very worried about my bags in Transition that contained my cell phone and camera getting soaked through and frying my digital livelihood.

When I got to Transition 2, I just re-situated my belongings, threw an already wet towel over top it all, continued to pray and started my run.

The Lord was clearly answering my prayers with a no. The rain was absolutely not letting up. Acquiescing to the reality that I had done all I could do under the circumstances to protect my electronics, I made the decision to let it go.

I was, at this point, completely soaked, my clothes and ball cap utterly saturated with what had been falling from the sky. So instead of avoiding the water puddles on my route, I jumped in them! What an opportunity to have some extra fun!

I finished my race, passing several women at the very end and was so proud I'd finished another triathlon.

I grabbed my belongings, ate a couple peanut butter sandwiches under a tent and walked the one mile trek back to my truck - in the pouring rain.

Ten minutes later, as I was driving west, the rain suddenly stopped and the blue sky reappeared.

Of course it did.

A little more action, please

To admit that I've, er, slacked on my training the last few months is difficult. Between adjusting to a new work schedule and dealing with the offseason blues, I've let myself go.

It had been a couple months since I'd gone swimming...and a couple months before that...and, yet again, a couple months before that.

About 75 yards into my swim this morning, it hit me like a ton of bricks how having not swum these last few months had begun to really take a toll on me.

I thought, "Well, I was shooting for a thousand yards, but I'll be lucky to pull out 200!" It was around 200, actually, where I began to feel better. My energy was up and I was able to get to 700. I could have gone further, but I realized that starting so hard out of the gate would not be a good idea so I cut myself off.

I'm disappointed that my training had subsided, but the lemonade out of lemons story is that seeing myself struggle so hard with something that used to come with such ease, forced me to realize just how in shape I was and how far I have come.

So, here's to being thankful for a bad period in my training, because it will, I'm sure, renew my current and future training for the rest of the season.

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good

This fantastic quote came to mind this morning as frustration began to manifest itself as quite the grumpy disposition. A walk with my dogs on a blue-skied, warm and breezy Saturday morning ended up being the starting point for a downward spiral of negative thinking.

I had been pondering how much my training bites right now. It's intermittent, it's intensity is inconsistent and it's - well, it's embarrassing. I'm a triathlete afterall, not a dog walker.

Midway through the walk, I realized a quiet soreness in my hamstrings. This surely wasn't from all the running I'd been doing lately. Then I remembered something I'd done earlier in the week.

I had been having a conversation with my husband as we were both sitting on the couch. During our talk, I told myself, "Just get up and start doing some squats. Just do a few and keep listening." So, I did. The soreness I experienced this morning was the result of those squats and my disposition soon changed to match the sunny skies above.

You see - to me - the soreness in my hamstrings was a thank you from my body in having gotten off the couch to do just those few squats instead of waiting around for a perfect time to do them, and other exercises, all at once...because it likely would not happen.

One thing I did not incorporate at all last season was strength training. When I only had a certain amount of time to train and I needed to choose between SBR or strength training, I chose SBR. This season, I did not want to put it on the back burner again so I decided to incorporate a few, important exercises like pushups, crunches and squats.

I completed Day 1/3 out of Week 1/6 in the Hundred Pushups challenge and never got further. In my mildly obsessive-compulsive mind, I needed to have built a perfect scheduling structure in order to do them at all. Because I need to drop at least 10 pounds, I wanted to do the strength training before doing any SBR. The trouble is, my schedule never afforded it and I never did anymore pushups.

Here is my point: My perfect set up would be to spend 30 minutes, three times a week doing strength training before I do cardio. I just don't have that time. My alternative (good) set up must then be, do these activities - intermittently - throughout the day, because right now, I'm not achieving any benefits at all.

Here's to hoping that throughout the next few weeks, my body will have sent me many more thank yous on behalf of other muscle groups.

A financial and fun gift all "tried" in to one

In my last entry, I ranted about the approximate 50% increase in a race fee. I have since discovered some good news.

There is a local multisport store and a timing chip company who have partnered together to offer races for 10 bucks a pop. That's right, 10 bucks!

You do have to be a USAT member, though. No problem. Already am.

There is no swag, no food, no drinks, no awards. No problem. Will be bringing my own and I never podium anyway.

They're offering five of these races throughout the summer on Wednesday nights at the same state park. Our tri club trains there every Saturday in all three events, so it'll have the feel of a training day, just with a little more pressure to speed up in Transition.

In my quest to save money, I plan on doing at least three of these, and am very excited that they're giving folks this opportunity.

I'll let you know how they go.

I'm just not that into it afterall I suppose

It was going to become my tradition.

My first triathlon was a women's only, .25-mile swim, 12-mile bike and 2-mile run. It was the inaugural Tri for the Cure and it was a life changing day for me. As soon as I finished the race, I began thinking of finishing it the next year - with better times.

I signed up for it again the following year and killed it. I improved my time overall by approximately 25%. Another great day at Alum Creek.

I was planning on always doing this triathlon no matter what my schedule, to establish it as my own, little, triathlon tradition.

I went to register for it recently, wanting to take advantage of the early registration prices, only to discover that the early registration fee, that had been $45, was now $65.

So much for saving money.

I understand costs go up for businesses. I understand that 75% of the money goes toward a good cause. I understand that, compared to other regions in this great country, pricing for triathlon registration fees is very good to us here in Ohio.

I also believe in the free market. This is a good race company, but they've increased the price past my threshold. So, as a result, I have taken this race off my schedule.

If I were to sign up for this Sprint race on race day, the price would be the same as my half iron distance race later on this year.

So much for a tradition being born.

I'm optimistic, though. Another jewel of a race could catch my eye, or I might just do an open water swim race that I might not have done had this been on my schedule.

Give me a cloud, I'll give you a silver lining.

Give me a price increase like that, I won't give you my dollars.