Owning the past

I've finally got a little bit of housekeeping done on the blaaaahg that I've been meaning to do for quite a while now. Namely, I've created a page that shows all of my past events with dates, results and links to race reports.

My first ever race - a 5k in Hamilton, ON
Overdressed and completely naive but having a blast!

Well, at least those that still exist. I used to have a website that housed all of my race reports from my very first 5k in March of 2009 up until my first Olympic Triathlon in 2010. It met with an untimely fate when the hosting service decided to unilaterally delete the entire site.

RIP, TriathlonChaos. You are missed.

My very first tri - even the pissing rain couldn't stop me from having fun!

Three things have struck me in doing the necessary research and recording all of these past events:

1) Holy sweet merciful crap I've done a lot of racing. There are no less than 77 (seventy! seven!) events listed on that page, and I've only raced for 6 seasons. That works out to almost 13 events per year. I refuse to contemplate how much that represents in race fees. I just don't want to know.

First 10k

2) There are events I'd completely forgotten about. Without my training logs and some other recordkeeping I've done throughout the years, compiling this list would have been impossible as my memory just can't contain it all. See point #1. Going through the list has reminded me of fun times racing with friends, pacing people through some of their first races, and some of my own personal triumphs and challenges.

Team SmackTalk at Horror Hill in 2010 - my first ultra!

3) While decidedly non-linear, it's incredible to look back at my past results and see my progression as I've developed as an endurance athlete. From absolutely zero prior running experience before November 2008 I've since improved almost every single one of my original race times - those that I haven't improved upon are generally odd distances I have only raced once. From not being totally sure I could manage a 5k or sprint triathlon at the start of 2009, I've since completed half a dozen ultramarathons and two half iron distance triathlons.

Finish line of my first Olympic tri in Wasaga Beach - 2010
I still feel like this at every finish line!

It's been one hell of a ride so far, and I've learned so much about both racing and myself along the way. I'm happy to have all of my photos and records to look back on - maybe one day when I'm too old and busted to race anymore, I'll still be able to wander through my race reports and remember all those moments when I felt like I was going to die...but at the same time had never felt more alive.