After the disappointment of a DNF at Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga two weeks ago, it felt great to win my age group this morning. 

I did the Sprint race at the Edinboro Triathlon in northwest Pennsylvania.  It’s a fantastic local race, with a fair and challenging course, and amazing volunteers.  If you ever get the chance to do this race, you should.

My wife and I drove up from Pittsburgh this morning, experiencing a beautiful sunrise on the way.  Race check-in was easy and before we knew it, we had set up our gear in transition.  We even had enough time to take a short practice swim, which was very beneficial.  We got used to the cold water and were also able to realize that there were a lot of weeds near the shore.  Those weeds extended about a hundred yards offshore and were ‘interesting’ to swim through.

I am very happy with my race, but it was not perfect (is any race ever ‘perfect’?).  I will share full details in tomorrow’s blog post.  For now I want to say that what made my day, was actually my wife’s race.  In only her second ever triathlon, she was able to go over ten minutes faster than the time she had in the same race in 2019.  That improvement included a sightly longer bike leg this year too.  Best of all, she was smiling ear to ear, every time I saw her.

So while I am happy with my age group win, the memory of racing with my wife, is even better.