Swannee's Return to Racing - From the Depths of Illness and Injury

Swannee's back!
I raced my first triathlon in 2 years. I will admit that this was an emotional return. Following my foot surgery and the poor response, I had resolved myself to never doing another triathlon. I have identified myself as many things over the last 25 years but that of triathlete and dad were the two consistent identities. Of those 2, obviously dad was the most important but triathlete was very important as it identified me in my non-professional/athletic life...and I felt it was gone. I was preparred to accept being able to only race and train as a cyclist but with the idea of continuing to try to figure out a way to include running, multisport and adventure racin in my athletic repetoire.
As I continued to jog/walk and hope for the best - it was very hard to stay positive but I kept plugging away.
Then, walking down to the start of the XTERRA Uwharrie, knowing I was preparred to race it and that I had been running now up to 7 miles, it hit me that I was in fact, back!
Emotion overcame me and I had a hard time pulling it together in time to start the race - and start I did!
The swim went better than expected with my shoulder doing well and completeing the 1000 meter swim close to my last Uwharrie...but that is where the similarities stopped.
The course was brutal, technical...and FUN! It truly kicked my ass and it felt - GREAT!
My foot is still nowhere near normal, it's still frequently sore but not so much it prevents me from running - so I'll keep running and start some heavy pack hiking to see where my new limits are.
Yehaaaiii - I'm back!!

Swannee