#42 Will Have to Wait

Triathlon #42 will have to wait for awhile. After a pretty successful # 41 at last year’s Lobo Triathlon I was looking forward to doing this year’s version of the event. There’s two reasons why I won’t be participating in April 2023, neither of which I can do anything about.

First off, as I predicted, my left hip has deteriorated just like the right hip did. So, on February 9th, 2023, I will be going in to have the left hip replaced. If all goes well, it will likely be June or July before I can get back on the bike. Running will have to wait until at least August or September. When I had the right hip done, I believe I pushed my recovery from the surgery too aggressively and I ended up with a significant amount of stem tip pain even while only walking. This delayed my return to running by at least another 6 months. So I’m going to take it really easy on the ramp back up to training.

Secondly, they’ve changed the format for the race. Super sprint triathlons are all the rage now as the sport tries to make itself more attractive to television audiences.  Super sprint races make each leg of the sport really short. So now they have three different races: 

Lobo Pup – 1.55 mile run/~2 mile bike ride/150M swim in the pool 

Lobo Teen Wolf – consisting of two repeats of the Pup

Lobo – consisting of 3 repeats of the Pup

If I were to to do the Lobo which would be about the same as the original Lobo Tri except a bit longer of a run and a bit longer of a swim, it would mean performing 8 transitions.  This would include running twice after getting out of the pool, getting on and off the bike three times and getting into and out of the pool three times.  This is in early April which could potentially be cold and windy. No thanks.

It’s really a moot point for me since I will still be recovering from my hip replacement. Should the Lobo Tri use the same format for 2024, I’ll be finding another race.