Santa Barbara Triathlon Teaser

Well, today has been interesting. I’ve been moving my writing time back because I am still waiting for the Santa Barbara race photos to be released, but one of the pitfalls with smaller events is that things like this take longer than beefier events like major marathons or Ironman's. Therefore, I’ll include the race photos on another date (maybe before next Tuesday…) along with a play-by-play breakdown of the race, and instead utilize today’s post to share the pre-race action, which honestly, was pretty entertaining.

Here we go!!

The main purpose of the race was to practice racing. I have dealt with a tremendous amount of anxiety going into races starting back at Ironman Coeur D’Alene last year (and every race since) that I wanted to work through this year in order to climb beyond it, and good news, I felt nice and calm all week. I slept enough and didn't even freak out when I misjudged how much gas I had (less than I needed) in our Sprinter to drive the 160+ round trip to Santa Barbara on race morning (Saturday ) and had to stop at a gas station at 5:20A. FUN!

It was all good, though, because I rolled into Santa Barbara with plenty of time to spare. In fact, I found a better than decent parking spot, and was sauntering down to the transition area relaxed and almost carefree until I realized I left my water bottles in another backpack... that I left in the van.

Sweet.

No worries. I checked in quickly (thank you volunteers!!) parked Big Red in a good spot at the far end of the 49-Under Women’s rack, pulled out the necessities from my backpack to set up my special spot in the world (wetsuit, goggles, bike shoes, helmet, socks, wristband, race belt, sunglasses, Picky Bar, Body Glide) then ran back to the van to grab my forgotten water bottles, and still had enough time for a stop at the WC, and then snag a few pre-race chats with friends and teammates.

**From left: The incredible, Jenn Aronson, Debbie Booth, the author, and Lynne Feidler.**

I was excited, felt the fun kind of nervous, and was simply ready to rip it as soon as the clock hit 7:15A!

*Please insert future race story here.*

But then I checked the results....

Wait... That's not right???

To be continued...

The song and video choice today really nails how I have been feeling after the recent mishaps the last couple of days. Take it away, Annie!