Racing 2015 - It Begins

Well, folks, this is it.

On Saturday, I begin race season 2015.

And although I keep saying every year "this is the earliest race I've raced in a season", yet again I find myself saying " this year I'm racing the earliest I've ever raced in a season".  I don't know how this keeps happening, but each year I start racing sooner and sooner.  Last year, I beat my all time record by racing Little Rock on March 2nd.  The year before that, I threw all caution to the wind and raced outside of my fair weather only comfort zone, running a very icy Get Lucky on March 14th.  Now I've broken the barrier into February.

At this rate, one of these days I might just end up never taking an off season, and find myself racing year round.  Or not ... considering the sub zero temps we're facing in my area as of the last few weeks.

Anyway, you may be wondering - Natalie, what race are you doing?

Well, I'm glad you asked because this year, it's a doozy!!  I'm finally doing my first ever triathlon, the Tri U Mah.  Yes, technically it's an indoor tri, which makes it a bit easier but ... it also makes it far less intimidating for a newbie like me.

Although, to be honest, I have a very odd sense of zen right now leading up to the race.  Maybe that will change on the day of, but I sure hope not.

I suppose a part of the reason why I'm feeling zen is because I've never raced a tri before, so I have no huge expectations set to achieve a certain finish time, or to bust up a previous PR, or anything like that.  I just plan to go, have fun, and try to do the best I can.

Oh, and I plan to do one other thing.

I plan to race MAN VERSUS MACHINE.

Yep, you got it.  Time for some InkNBurn love.

You may recall back in December, my friend from The Bacon Chase and I participated in a 24 hour charity run as team Skin & Bones:

For Tri U Mah, we decided to break up that alliance and pit ourselves mano e machine ... o.  So, while she'll still be all man (muscle), I'll be sporting this beast:

The race should prove to be interesting, since I'm honestly not sure who will win - man or machine.  While she's a stronger runner than me, I'm a stronger swimmer.  And we're somewhat evenly matched on the bike. 

My one advantage in this race is that I'm like a true machine, in that I don't mind working out on machines.  Whereas, my opponent can't stand machine workouts.  So, maybe via sheer mental determination on my behalf, I'll be able to beat her.  But, only time will tell ... so stay tuned for the official race recap on Wednesday!!

In the meantime, feel free to debate the winner below.  Man ... or ... machine?!



**(Oh, and of course, we'll be ranked against all other competitors in the Tri U Mah.  We're just doing the man versus machine part for some added fun.)