Sometimes I’m in a very chipper mood when I approach the finish line. Not always. Sometimes. The past few races I have, despite one being incredibly hot and the other a DNF (I was able to stow my bike and do the run anyway).
During the hot race, I was towards the front and a man came ripping past me. I don’t mind being passed by men, but do it gracefully, ya know? He came so close to me, I’m pretty sure he splattered me with sweat. It’s like he was Making A Point.
Well I caught him right before the finish. I ran next to him for a few minutes and I could tell he was hurting. With 500 yards to go I thought I’d motivate him, give him a little encouragement. Honestly and truthfully! I was trying to be nice!
“We’re so close, it’s the final sprint, come on, let’s go, run with me.”
He grunted.
“I saw you fly past me earlier, I know you’ve got more!”
He wouldn’t look at me, and this time he ignored me.
“You’re not gonna let a girl beat you are you?”
Then I took off and beat him.
The next race I wasn’t really racing. My race number had already been pulled due to my bike problem, but I decided to complete the run and get a workout in. It was pretty fun running but not racing. I took time to look at other people. It was interesting to see different running styles, to watch their faces, see who was enjoying it vs. enduring it. I picked up my pace for the last two miles and there was a man I kept passing. I would pass him on the uphill and then he’d catch me on the downhill. This usually happens to me during the bike not the run. But he seemed to have a good attitude and was working pretty hard. The last 200 yards into the finish was a steep uphill, like lean forward, up on your toes, hike it a little. I caught up to him, looked over, and said, “it’s been you and me the whole way man, let’s go, don’t let me beat you.”
He sort of smiled but mostly grunted. This was a better response than my last race. However, I wasn’t going to slow down to wait for him, so I took off. I was 5 yards from the finish when I heard *thud* *thud* *thud* and he passed me! I was so happy! I raised both my arms in the air and yelled “YEAH! You go dude!”
He doubled over at the line and I gave him an awkward fist to shoulder bump because I don’t know what the rules of engagement are these days. He found me a few minutes later and thanked me for motivating and encouraging him! See! Some people appreciate my chipperness.
That was a fun way to end the day. I then sat behind the awards ceremony banner and pouted while everyone else received their medals.
On an unrelated note, if I had a nickel for every time I walked in on a guy using a portapotty I would have 25 cents. Lock the door, men! This was before the race even started and some guy was just standing in there partially clad. What is the urgency before the race starts that you can’t take time to lock the door? One time during a race I opened three portapotty doors in a row, all with men inside. Like once, I get it. Twice, okay this is getting weird. Three times! Lock the door!
In other news, I debut my new logo! I’m very excited about this and am having a custom race kit designed.
It was agreed that the main logo was awesome, but perhaps a bit too involved for smaller print items. Hence this sub logo was born!
I’m really excited to make some T shirts, coffee mugs, and cycling apparel!
Discover more from Tri Storm
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
The kit is always the fun part!
I’ll be definitely ordering coffee mug ☕️