Midwestern Triathlete

Tuscon Swim


Anyone who knows me well enough knows I love the mountains and west coast, but has adapted (I think) to living in the Midwest for quite some time. This weekend I sacrificed a trip to San Diego for the good of my professional career. Adam had enough of our ferocious winter and booked a trip to San Diego. I was welcome to come, but had a continuing education course to take. As a physical therapist in order to keep your license you have to complete classes throughout the year to stay up to date on the latest techniques. This class was held right at Fox Valley Ortho where I work, in the dead of winter with all my fellow employees. I really don't like taking these especially when the weather is nice and I'd rather be outside, but this class couldn't make it any easier on me to get it done. So I passed on the trip and sat in a class all weekend to better myself as a PT and for the good of any future patient that may find their way onto my schedule.

As I sat there spacing out, and cold, and drinking coffee to stay awake I thought about what I was missing out on in San Diego and wondered if it gets routine to have such nice weather. They are missing out on some of the true joys of being a triathlete from the Midwest such as :

1. You hold your swimsuit under a hair dryer at the pool to warm it up because it has sat out in your car and is frozen like Popsicle, and then you sit in the sauna to warm up before heading out on the pool deck.

2. You have to add an extra 15 min to your workout just to get dressed to go out for a run and that in turns leads to.....

3. Your laundry volume doubles because of the multiple layers you have to apply just to go out for a run

4. You wear your coat around the house for 45 minutes when you come home just to warm up

5. Your shoulders are sore in strange places when you swim because you've been shoveling snow

6. Your GU freezes when on a training run

7. You shovel 3 inches of snow off the track to do a track workout (its true, we did this for the kids team !)

8. You even have to wear long sleeves when riding on the trainer in the basement

9. People at work think you've been tanning when really your face is just
windburned.


I have had my share of winter frost and fun and those character building moments. I am starting to dream of the Tuscon camp. It can't come soon enough and I can't wait to see cactus, desert dirt and rocks, Gates Pass, Mt. Lemmon and Mexican food.