At the beginning of the 2017 season I had just one goal; to complete the season happy. I succeeded at that goal and gained new confidence in my ability to rebound from a couple of challenging years.
I started the year slowly since my work was unbelievably difficult and I found myself so drained at the end of my days I had no energy to train. I did a bit here and there but nothing that could be called training. I didn’t really get going until May; which only left me a month to get ready for my first sprint triathlon of the year, The Hyannis Sprint I. I made the choice to do the triathlon despite my lack of training and set a goal to do The Hyannis Sprint II in September with a better time. (I knew I’d only get through the first sprint if I took it slow).
Lucky for me the swim was cancelled on the first triathlon. We did a short beach run instead. I had not done any swimming so this was good news for me, but not for most of the field. I got through the sprint and felt good and ready to take on more. I made another goal; to train enough to do well in my second event of the season; the New York City Triathlon. 
I trained hard for the next six weeks and completed the New York City Triathlon on July 16. I finished with nearly the same time from 2014; the year I was in top condition and well-trained. The couple minutes I lost (and would have allowed me to beat my best time) was my intentional doing. During the swim I came up on a woman who was having a panic attack. There was no time to call over help. I just stopped and helped her till she got her bearings and was ready to swim again. Losing a couple of minutes was not tragic. I made another goal; always help a fellow triathlete when needed. NO. MATTER. WHAT.
Recovery from the NYC Tri was easy and, in fact, I felt compelled to do another triathlon right away so two weeks later I entered and completed the Whaling City (New Bedford, MA) Sprint Triathlon. It was a windy and sunny day. I was slower than I wanted but chalked that up to fatigue and the headwinds! I did this triathlon without any watch or thought of my time and I was happy the whole time. I made the goal to do at least one triathlon a year just for fun; no time, no pressure to push.
The last triathlon of my season was The Hyannis Sprint II. The day was ideal and the water, which can be very temperamental, was as smooth as glass. I had not done any swimming for two weeks prior as my work schedule had once again become untenable. But through some miracle my muscle memory kicked in and I killed the swim! It was the best feeling ever. I made another goal; always believe in the entire process of the training not just the most recent training sessions.
The best part of my season was that I enjoyed every event I did. Two years ago I didn’t know if I would continue with triathlon. Every event taught me another lesson and from those lessons I have made some great new goals!