TOBAY tri here I come

I’m not sure if I mentioned the big dilemma that I have this tri season.  I had the choice of doing two triathlons with TNT.  One is on September 9^th in DC and the other is this weekend here on Long Island.  I REALLY wanted to do the one in DC.  One reason is that I found that it was a lot of fun to travel with the TEAM.  You really get to know the people that you maybe didn’t get to know too well during the season, and you create a good bond.  I am also a TEAM mentor.  I would hate to have my mentees in doing an event in a distant city without me.  I want to be there and be a good mentor.  Plus the September course is flat.  Sunday’s course is hilly, VERY hilly, and you know how I feel about hills. 

September’s course is an Olympic distance triathlon, like my last one.  The one this week is a sprint tri.  You would think that I would prefer to do the shorter event, but I see the difference between the two much like I see the difference between running a marathon and running a 5k.  When you complete a marathon everybody cheers for you.  You can be as slow as molasses and it really doesn’t matter to anyone.  They just care that you finished, and afterwards you can say something like “I’ve completed four marathons”.  When you complete a 5k either nobody cares or they want to know your times, which for me would be worse than nobody caring.  My times are embarrassing. 

Now add that embarrassing time to a local event where I know a couple of dozen of the participants.  For these particular people it IS about the time.  They care a lot about breaking a personal record or beating their friends.  They have little competitions and they smash talk each other all year.  If I am going to embarrass myself I do NOT want to do it in front of these people.  I’d much rather do it out of town where nobody knows me. 

My predicament is that my cousin’s baby’s baptism is on the 8^th in NY.  There are not a lot of things that I would skip my desired triathlon for, but Baby Sebastian’s baptism is one of them.  (I really wish that my family and friends would consult me before planning anything.)  So the TOBAY tri it is.  I’ve trained and practiced on the course twice.  I’m able to finish, but, again, I am VERY slow.  Wish me luck!