Triathlon at Retirement

  Another competition! The Wurst Tri Ever sprint triathlon took place in New Braunfels, Texas, Sunday the 11th October. Covid-19 restrictions were enforced with minimal contact between people and we had face masks except during the competition.  Swim started in the spring fed Landa Park pool and it was fantastic to swim about 150m in the absolutely clear water above the natural vegetation. Then we transitioned to a regular pool for an additional 150m. Bike course had a large hill in the beginning and the end and lots of turns along the way. The cyclist in front of me got caught in the wrong gear uphill and took a fall, fortunately with no injury.  My timing chip did not register on all the timing sensors, but fortunately it was noticed by the organizers so they checked me off manually as well, thanks for that! I finished in 2nd place in my age group on 1.23.19, almost 4 minutes after the winner, Lisa Canedy.  The wurst from Kiolbassa smoked meat was so good... /Gunilla

The Kiwanis triathlon in McKinney (near Dallas) September 20, was the first competition this year for me! Everything else that I have signed up for have been cancelled due to COVID-19. It was fun to see some real action again after all the training. The arrangements seemed very safe with minimal contact between people. The sprint course started with a 275yd pool swim with quite a long run to transition. Bike 10.25 miles in two laps and run 3.1 miles. I finished with a time of 1.14.43, place 1 in my age group and 28th of all women.  I took a wrong turn during the bike leg, just had my eyes on the person in front of me that went into transition while I had a second lap to do. No biggie, but it showed I was out of competition practice. Hopefully, a mistake I will not repeat again! It is important to compete regularly to avoid such mistakes. /Gunilla

In 2018, I retired at age 60. I always wanted to do triathlons and it was now or never. I did not know if I could do it, maybe I was just too old, maybe I was starting too late, maybe I would fail?  I trained, I signed up for a competition, I did it, and I have never looked back. I am enjoying my retirement, and with this blog, I want to inspire other closet athletes to have a go.  I am really not a natural athlete. Seriously, if I can do it at 60+, probably you can do a triathlon too.  /Gunilla