Nashville Oly

First olympic distance since June of 2008.

I was told in so many words this week that my race reports are too long- I think that meant they are boring.
The quick end of it:
1. If you think triathlons are stupid and could care less what I did this weekend, stop here.
2. For those of you who only care about who placed where- I got 3rd in my AG.
3. Anyone interested in the details of the 3 events can read on and I will try to make it short.

-Swim: awesome in Cumberland River. I now- post race- realize that currents matter and there is some tactical positioning required to swimming rivers (it should not take 5 minutes to go 100 yards). My overall swim time looks stinky, but I had a lot of fun in the water ;)

-Bike: was fine- definitely a strength of mine at this point by default. Slow first loop...picked it up second loop when I had some guys to chase down. This is a fun course...good hills and headwinds made it challenging. I got my first penalty ever- the "overtaken" penalty, because some guy kept passing me and dramatically slowing down over and over again....just killing me. I kept dropping back each time, but I finally just had enough and had to get away from him. So, after about the fifth time he did that crap, I just barely dropped back and passed him immediately to get far away from him. I had a feeling I was getting a penalty when the motorcycle went by me slowly. F-me. Completely my bad...my frustrated self came out.

-Run: The hardest 10k course I have ever run. It was a monster. The temps were in the high 90s (thank goodness for the Splish), and the hills were gigantic. I was happy to run the whole thing, although the run was more like a shuffle up the hills. I went about a block off-course at one point because a volunteer did not direct me the right way- that wasn't cool. I have never done that in my life, and I swear it is because all of these bloggers (ahem...Angela and Kari) keep going off-course and it must just be catching on. Ice + water all over me at every aid station, and I made it to the finish. My time sucked, but I was happy to run my first 10k in well over a year.

And after years and years of my soccer teammates calling me "Bird"- I finally see that I do run with one chicken wing (see picture above). I now have enough running pictures to prove it and can deny it no longer- my awful left arm crossing my body. I am pretty sure it is in the position so I can elbow the crap out of someone on the field to shield the ball- can I erase 25 years of elbowing people? Looks like I will be doing some running form drills in the near future to see if you can retrain your muscles.

I am getting ready to head to Nashville with my friend and teammate Michelle Bingham. Yea racing!!!! Racing = fun!!!! We are going to have a blast!

One thing that is not fun, though, is not owning all of the equipment I want. For the past 4 years, I have borrowed race wheels when I have been able to borrow them. This weekend, I was not able to acquire a set for the weekend, and I realized that it is draining to ask to borrow wheels. It takes phone calls, extra time, and extra worry. I am going to really start hunting for a pair of good, used wheels. I have a 10-year- old Hed Deep back wheel that I bought from a friend, so if I could just get something for the front, it should be sufficient. I would love the new 808s (and who can afford those?), etc...but after scrambling every race to try to get some wheels, I think I will just settle for something useful- affordable- and that can live at my home.

And there are so many reasons why after 4 years I have not been able to save for race wheels.

Exhibit #1: New/used car.
After sinking $1,000 in the Volvo last month and renting a car every time I travel, Dave and I realized we need to go ahead and purchase a reliable car for out of town trips. I could not convince him that a Camaro would be a good family car, so we settled on an Accord Hybrid with low mileage. The hybrid is a little ironic as it is a V6... but still, it is our attempt at going green. And, I have actually always wanted a hybrid- along with my Camaro.

Exhibit #2- The dogs.

I think the butt-heads have cost me another $1000 in the past 4 months. Do you see my finger in the left hand corner- pointing at Cayenne? Yup, she has been the biggest butt-head of them all. Rooney and Shelby are looking at me and following directions. I say sit/stay- and they do it. Cayenne is going through some nasty teenage thing and just ignores me. Well, and then Shelby and Rooney can't stop being butt-heads to each other. Ughhh. Remind me to not have 3 kids when the time comes. 2 should be plenty.

Aunt Bookie bought them all Saints collars...so they are looking cute if nothing else.

Okay- must pack up the car. Off to the races!!!!!

When did triathlons get so expensive? I just dropped $135 on an Oly distance. Really? Now, had I entered 4 months ago, the price would have been $95...but I really don't pay for races that far in advance. A lot can happen in 4 months (injury, work schedule...)! So, Nashville Oly this upcoming weekend. Scratch Sharpshooter for the following weekend because I am now broke.

But, here we go. I am going to enter my first Olympic distance since...um...IMFL2008. I am starting to run more consistently, albeit slowly, but consistently. This will be a good little test to see if I am really ready to take on some longer or faster endeavors, especially in the run department.

This weekend I challenged myself to a new ride. Not only do I get intimidated with big guy group rides, but I also just don't like training that resembles racing, breaking others down, proving yourself, etc... But with some encouragement, I rode out of my comfort zone this weekend with a good group. I had a running thought in my head that kept me going: "this is your day to work. it is going to be hard. you are here to work." And, all of the guys were super great, nice, encouraging riders.

Oh, and my little secret. I played in a soccer game today ;) hee hee! I enjoyed knocking a 200+# guy off of the ball. Now I am totally pooped and off to bed.