Mom says that people (her anyway) are still reading this, so I guess I better keep writing! I have plenty to say, but seems I have little time to say it. And now my computer is dying, so I guess I better say this one fast!!
I did my first triathlon of the season this weekend. It was a last minute sign up. I am on an actual Triathlon team now for the Air Force- we get free uniforms and free entrance to races!! but I have to pay for one to get the other ones paid for and this was one of the ones I could do. I have been swimming all winter, but in sets (25-400 meters at a time with rests of 10 sec to a minute or so in between. The last time I swam a long way without stopping was my last race in October!! I have been on my bike exactly 4 times since Thanksgiving. abut I HAVE been running! So that's something.
I was a bit scared of this one because I was in Corpus Christi last weekend because of Heather's swim meet (regional finals- she did great and is going to State next weekend). I went for a bike ride in the morning and the wind was 15 mph. The waves in the ocean were huge! Like 2 feet high! OK- that's huge to me. And the wind was terrible. I did an out and back next to the ocean and I was doing about 18mph on the way out quite easily and then only 12-13mph on the way back. So needless to say, with my lack of training and the prospect of giant waves and terrible wind, I was a bit nervous.
I left work and drove the 2.5 hours to Corpus. Checked into the hotel and then went to the race site to pick up my packet and eat the free pasta dinner. It was raining. A lot. And it was pretty cool. But guess who was there?! Dave Scott. He is one of the legends in the sport - he won the Ironman Championships 6 times and he battled in one of the most famous races of all time. He gave a talk and stuck around to answer questions and then was around to hand out awards after the race. And it was a little tiny race- only about 600 people there. I had some dinner, listened to him talk, and then went to Walgreens to pick up some stuff for the race. One was an ace wrap. You see, I forgot my jog bra. It was even on the packing list and somehow I left it hanging on the back of my door. But I figured an ACE wrap might make a good substitute,
I packed up my stuff and went to bed. Up at the crack of dawn, packed all my stuff, went to the race site. We started at 0730- the ocean we swam in was more like a bay- just a mile or so down from the big waves, but it was a bit protected, so the waves were not big. It was cold- about 60 degrees. But I survived the 1500 meters. The bike (25 miles) was awesome on the way out. The route went along the ocean and there were giant houses and beautiful ocean to look at. The way back was horrible with the bad wind again. The run (6 miles) was fine- great on the way out and windy on the way back. My goal was to finish unhurt and in a respectable time- and I met both goals.
The hotel gave me a late checkout so I was able to go back and have an awesome shower and then drive home. It was a good day!
Oh...and the ACE wrap worked.
