Skirt Sports Blog

Yesterday I did my first triathlon in almost 5 years. I won't lie. I trained for it, I got nervous, and I worried about all the same little things that I worried about when I was racing pro. The difference was in my perspective. Five years ago, racing triathlons was my job. Now, I have a few other things to worry about (like what new color to add to the Spring 2011 line!). So while this triathlon was very important to me, this time it was more about the process than the outcome.

Do you know why I decided to compete again? Because one of my employees challenged me! Every year, in January, I sit down with my team, individually, and we talk about goals. We discuss business, personal and fitness goals. Corie French, Customer Care Extraordinaire, bluntly stated, "I think we should all commit to a triathlon this summer, and I think we should train together." I said, "I like your enthusiasm," clearly not immediately ready to jump back into the sport that was my life for ten years. Not to mention the fact that Corie also pitched the Skirt Olympics (this idea is not off the table yet either!). It took a while to absorb what this would mean, not only for me but for our Skirt Sports team. You see, it's not common practice to make a goal for a bunch of other people without their buy-in (i.e. My goal is for my husband to buy me a new leather jacket. Hmmm - not sure I have a whole lot of control over that one!). I polled the group and the answer was unanimous. Let's do it!

Sometimes I think the hardest part is to say it out loud for the first time. I'm going to do a triathlon. I'm going to run a marathon. I'm going to interview for a job. I'm going to ask that cute guy for a date. I'm going to put myself out there, in front of lots of other people, regardless of the outcome. It's a scary moment. Once you say it out loud, you are now accountable. You are committed! I wrote a 6-week training plan and we worked our Skirts off! The best parts of the training were our weekly swim sessions and our Wed morning brick workouts. Dubbed the Pink Posse, we banded together and created an early morning stir in and around the Boulder area office parks. I can confidently say that we are all committed to getting a shower in our next office - It would be nice for Wednesday NOT to be known as StinkDay in the future.

Race day was like any other race day as far back as I can remember. I woke up a few times during the night. I drank my coffee and ate some toast. I double checked all my gear. The big difference? I wasn't in St Croix or Chicago or Kona. I was in my own bed, carpooling to the race with my VP of Operations (Sarah Vernon)! I have to say - I love local races! Although St Croix, Chicago and Kona aren't too shabby either!

The race was so fun - from start to finish. The Pink Posse racked our bikes in the same area, and warmed up together (if you call standing around in the sand before the swim warming up!). But once the gun went off, we were all in our own worlds. To me, that's the beauty of racing.

My race was over in a flash. The swim was a flurry of arms, legs and splashes. The bike was incredible. And the run was hot and seemed to go on forever. It's just like I remember every other race I've ever done!

I am so proud of all the women who participated in the Outdoor DIVAS Triathlon. It's a Sisterhood of Sweat, Suffering, Smiles and of course, Skirts! A special congratulations goes out to my Skirt Sports team. Our goal at Skirt is to "Walk the Walk". Fitness is one of our core values and we need to hold each other accountable. We all push ourselves to the edge of our limits - that part is relative; but the effort, the mental strain, the physical pain and the feeling of accomplishment at the finish line - are universal.

So Corie, we can proudly say, "Skirt Sports Team Sprint Triathlon.......... Check!"

Whatcha got for us next?