Just starting out

So, here I am, 41 years old. I grew up a fish. After years and years of swimming, I had a pretty good engine, and a decent tolerance for pain. After college swimming, I tried to run, tried to bike, and put it all together to compete in triathlon. I had very little success. I could complete races, but I was always middle of the pack (MOP). I always had bigger dreams. But running did not agree with me. Its better now (after compartment syndrome surgery, and other occasional visits for massage and ART therapy). I’ve learned to manage a decent run. And a decent bike, and my swim has not escaped me yet. Two years ago I took up mountain biking. I loved it. So I started doing xterra triathlons. And did quite well. In my second season, I qualified for the Xterra World Championships, went and competed, and finished 8th in my age group. I hope to go back again and try to improve on my performance on that course. But I still have dreams of road triathlons. I always dreamed of making it to the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii, but was never in the league of the girls who qualified. Last summer, the mountain bike training set me up with some girls who also train hard on the roads. And that helped my road racing too. I entered my first half ironman in years. I went 5:15, a PR by 20 minutes, at age 40, finished 7th out of 80+ in a very competitive AG field. I was inspired by this, especially since I had issues with poor bike position that cramped by legs throughout the bike ride, and took a couple miles of the run to work out. My ironman dreams are alive again. But how do I get there? I really believe I need a TT bike I can be comfortable on. And I just bought one, a Guru Crono (will post pic later). It was very comfy when I test rode it last week, so I’m very excited to get out there and ride it, and do some road tris this summer. I have a fantastic mountain bike that I train and race on (Specialized ERA full suspension). And now my goals have multiplied. I want to go back to Maui for the xterra world champs. I have dreams of one day qualifying for the Hawaii Ironman. And so, the next couple of years I’m going to work toward qualifying for both! And I’ll track it all here .