Raise the Bar
  • Home
    • New to Triathlon?
    • About >
      • Contact
      • Mission
      • History
    • Blog
    • Sponsors
    • Privacy Policy
  • Team
    • Members Only >
      • Log in
      • Team Directory >
        • Directory Guide
        • Manage your Directory Listing
      • Discounts >
        • Multisport & RTB Lite Members' Sponsor Benefits
        • Multisport Members' Event Discounts
        • Swim Member Sponsor Benefits
        • Swim Members' Event & Training Discounts
      • Team Calendar
      • Race Plans
      • Helping Teammates
    • About the Team
    • Sign Up!
    • Where we are >
      • RTB South
    • Benefits >
      • IM free entries
    • Team Sponsors
    • Team FAQs
  • Training
    • Swim >
      • Coached Pool Workouts
      • Open Water Wednesdays
      • Swim Workout Library
    • Bike
    • Run >
      • Monday Night Track
    • Coaching Referrals
  • Events
    • Volunteer Here!
  • Store

30 Years of Triathlon - What a ride!

7/20/2016

1 Comment

 
Looking from every angle, 2016 has been quite the year for RTB!  Many of you raced at the CDA 70.3 - the most highly attended race by RTB athletes to date at around 35. Other favorite races have been densely populated with RTBers - Chelanman, Ironman events, Lake Meridian(!).  The pictures and the stories keep coming and they are  inspiring, vulnerable, exciting, heart-warming, surprising, etc. Triathlon once again provides the backdrop for fun, shared experiences, and growth.  Win WIN WINNNN!
On Sunday I'm doing Seafair - which was the first triathlon I ever did in 1986 and frankly I've been very sentimental lately because of it.  You can see my maiden name on the results- Patty Pawlowski.  I was 606th of 666 athletes.  Yikes. I had a long way to go and trained for a long time to improve on that.  There were many fun years where I worked hard with my friends and got better and faster. (I couldn't have gotten much slower!!)  I discovered that along with the wife and mother in me, there was also an athlete - never would have guessed!
Picture
Picture
Picture
Shortly after this photo was taken I was advised to throw that bike in a dumpster. 
And the saddlebag


Like many of you, I've found that over the years, racing gets more of my attention some years than others, but my love of the sport continues. Lately I haven't trained with nearly the discipline and regimen I did in the past - but I still love the training and the sport like crazy!   I find myself doing more of what I enjoy the most (swimming!) and fitting bikes and runs/walks into the cracks and crevices that open up between my time running Raise the Bar, feeding my addiction to my superfun family, gardening, etc.  Many of my runs now are with strollers, or pushing kids bikes along...  It's AWESOME. I'm looking forward to racing in San Francisco next month and, like all of you, looking for the next fun race or adventure to spice things up.
Halfway into my triathlon years Brad Williams dared me to start a team. Like a coiled spring, triathlon was poised to grow rapidly and made its biggest debut in the 2000 Olympics which prompted the everyman to sign for events like crazy. Inaugural Ironman events were cropping up everywhere and Raise the Bar grew happily alongside. RTB's been a fantastic community and what a lucky girl I am to have been in the company of so many terrific people over the years on the team and at our training & events.  These days I have a front-row seat to many people crossing many finish lines and I love it.

Incidentally, You might notice here how Brad did at the same Seafair race in 1986 - 27th overall at 28 years old and easily the most consistent triathlete I've ever known.  Good going, Brad!
Picture
Picture
Seafair 1987 - closest photo I could find to 1986
Sunday is Ironman Canada - where many of you are headed with your beautifully fit & tapered bodies and hearts full of anticipation. Have the time of your lives!  Triathlon is one of many tools we have to experience life at the fullest - take every advantage of your trip and enjoy the day as it unfolds. Have FUN!  Not everyone is as fortunate as we are.

I was remiss in the first publishing of this blog to make a mention of Kathy Morrisson - thoughtless really. (Did I mention how self-absorbed I am?  Is that typical of triathletes?)   Kathy came to RTB and the sport of triathlon a few years after I did, but has become a 100% integral person in the running and managing of many aspects of Raise the Bar.  I'm grateful for her and for the great gifts she brings to our organization.  I'm mainly thankful for her friendship.   
THANKS KATHY!!! 




Sentimentally Submitted by Patty Swedberg. Thanks for indulging.
Picture
Kathy and her recently graduated, very lovely daughter Madeline
Picture
1 Comment
Ben Chastain
7/20/2016 02:12:59 pm

Great story Patty, thanks for sharing! I know this sport and RTB have definitely changed my life, and I could not be happier. It is always great to see you, Kathy, and RTB'ers on the side lines and/or race course, cheering us on. I am forever grateful for having found and become a member of RTB!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Raise the Bar

    Race reports, upcoming events, news, and more, from RTB.

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    September 2023
    July 2023
    April 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    July 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014

Picture
Picture
Home
Calendar
Contact Us
​About
Team
   Join
   Sponsors
​   FAQ
RTB Events
   Lake Meridian Tri
   Black Diamond Tri
Training
   Swim Workouts
​   Classes & Clinics
  
​
Event Services
   Timing
​   Equipment Rental
Photos from sindy.monzon, Rosmarie Voegtli
  • Home
    • New to Triathlon?
    • About >
      • Contact
      • Mission
      • History
    • Blog
    • Sponsors
    • Privacy Policy
  • Team
    • Members Only >
      • Log in
      • Team Directory >
        • Directory Guide
        • Manage your Directory Listing
      • Discounts >
        • Multisport & RTB Lite Members' Sponsor Benefits
        • Multisport Members' Event Discounts
        • Swim Member Sponsor Benefits
        • Swim Members' Event & Training Discounts
      • Team Calendar
      • Race Plans
      • Helping Teammates
    • About the Team
    • Sign Up!
    • Where we are >
      • RTB South
    • Benefits >
      • IM free entries
    • Team Sponsors
    • Team FAQs
  • Training
    • Swim >
      • Coached Pool Workouts
      • Open Water Wednesdays
      • Swim Workout Library
    • Bike
    • Run >
      • Monday Night Track
    • Coaching Referrals
  • Events
    • Volunteer Here!
  • Store