two races for 2010 with very little training

I remember setting my new year's resolution this year.  I told myself I would lose some weight to make my tri times quicker.  As I have now finished the second and last of the triathlons I signed up for this year, I have seen my new year's resolution definitely proven to have been ignored.  With my time ever dwindling between work, homelife, and getting rest, I have now realized that triathlons go better with more training, hell, sufficient training would have been nice, but I am capable of finishing a couple of sprint triathlons on very sporadic training efforts.  This lack of training, my friends, I do not recommend, but backing down from challenges is something I did not want to do either.  My tri times? I am able to finish in under 2 hours, but definitely longer than last years' times. 

What does the future hold for me as a triathlete, and working mother? Even further, a working mother of a son with a development disorder?  I would have loved to go on some bike rides with James, but his interest in riding his bike, even with training wheels, is low.  I plan to continue entering races, and hope to train myself to train better.  Will triathlon groups have a role to play in my success?

Bike fitting

So preparations for the upcoming season have officially begun with a bike fitting for me.  I got the low-tech variety bike fitting at a local, but still reputable, bike shop.  They started with measuring me all over: total height, arm lengths, inseam, torso length, then he ran off and punched those numbers into their computer and came back saying the bike frame is a perfect fit, but some minor adjustments to the seat position and the handlebars were needed.  I was so glad my hand-me-down bike from John was a perfect fit!  As for my bike seat, it was a quick spot to see that I had some cushioning issues since I wear the padded cycling shorts and have a cushion on top of the seat.  He scooted my seat up a bit to get the largest part directly under my sit bones and tilted the front down a bit so as to relieve a little pressure in the, ahem, more sensitive sites.  My knee bend while pedaling was also checked out, as well as the position of the clips on my shoes (adjustments from the manufacturer was perfect), and finally, my bars were attended to.  My shoulders were measured at 40cm apart and the bars were at 42cm, making me spread my arms a bit on their way down the handholds.  I told him I have shoulder soreness when I ride as my main complaint, to that he answered a stem raiser would reduce the in-the-middle-of-a-pushup position I've been riding in. 

I have to wait until the handle bars come in, but soon my rides will be much more comfortable.  Maybe it will make me faster, too, in addition to me being able to ride further.