"Old, fat, and injured is a bad combo."

That's what I said after crossing the finish line of the Plunge & Run Sunday morning.  Let me backtrack.

I woke up Sunday and thought seriously about bagging the race.  After all, running still hurts, I'm slow as molasses, and wouldn't I be better off (i.e. burn more calories) doing a long bike ride vs. doing a 400 yard swim + 5K run?  I quickly talked myself out of talking myself out of racing (got all that?) and drove to the health club where the race was being staged.  It was a small crowd (maybe 40 people total?), and I knew several of the organizers and volunteers.  I also got a great surprise when I saw my physical therapist from last summer, who was there with a student intern to stretch the athletes before or after the race.  Yay!  He told me to come see him afterward for what we affectionately called The Atomic Elbow.  (Literally his elbows digging into my glutes, hamstrings, and hips.  Ouch!)  My stomach did its usual pre-race flipping and flopping (WHY oh why does it do that???), and before too long it was my turn to swim.

I had swum for the first time in 2 weeks the night before, and my shoulder was all kinds of jacked up; however, as soon as I got through my first two or three laps, I felt fine in the water.  Whew!  My swimming has been inconsistent and slow, so I was thrilled when my watch said 7:50 as I jumped out of the pool and headed to the transition area.   Transition took maybe a minute (I had forgotten my race belt, so I had to pin my bib onto my tri top), and then I was off and running.

I started way too fast.  I was running at about an 8:15 pace, which under normal circumstances would be a great pace for a multisport 5K, but in my current conditioning and training was way too aggressive.  Mile 2 was more like a 9 minute mile (ugh), and then I probably slowed down even more. By my watch, my run time was 27:05.  So disappointing.  I knew I was dying out there, but to slow down that much between the first mile and the finish line was really discouraging.   I walked back to the PT, and when he asked me how I did I replied, "Old, fat, and injured is a BAD combo." 

Then he gave me about 15-20 minutes of Atomic Elbow, and while I was inside showering I missed the awards....   I ended up 2nd in my age group (out of 8). 

Even though the run was disappointing, it did confirm for me that I made the right choice by switching from the Olympic distance to the sprint for my September 15 race.  Now I feel smart for switching, not wimpy.  :)