The Twilight Zone

... so there we are listening to Sally Edwards pep talk. She explained to the newcomers that the only 2 things that will hinder your race are fear and self doubt. None of that among us, right? After leaving the Convention Center we decided to hop in the car and check out the course. This is when the weekend took a turn. Karen and I walked out to the car to rearrange the bikes, and low and behold someone had smashed in the drivers window and stolen my Garmin. Welcome to the "Twilight Zone". We went back into the hotel to let them know what had happened and were told they were not responsible. I told them the minute they took money from us to park in their garage they assumed responsibility. The manager won't be in until Monday. Typical. Would you please call the police, so I can file a report. Desk clerk came back with the message that the police were very busy, could not get there for at least an hour. Please tell me I'm on Candid Camera; no, you have entered the "Twilight Zone".
Well Kris and I walk the 1 block to the Police Station and find no one except us there. Where are the crowds? Uuuugghhh At this point the frustration level is very high and pretty much the rest of the afternoon is shot. Karen is busy trying to find a glass company to fix the window, but it's the weekend in the "Twilight Zone" and nothing is open or no one can help. We hop in the car after trying to get most of the glass slivers out, I'm sure I'll be finding glass for the next year. We take a look at the lake we will be swimming in first. It actually was great. Clean, calm and a nice hard sandy bottom, just how I like it. The run from the lake to the bikes was a little bit of a hike, but certainly doable. Now let check the bike route. At about mile 4 there was a pretty decent hill. In the initiation, they said that only about 200 out of 3000 would make it without having to get off their bikes. After seeing it I wondered who the other 197 would be, because I knew that the 3 of us would make it up and over. We didn't worry about the run course. We had already hit the wall for that day. Now on all my Tri's, I have made it a tradition, that the day before the race I have a nice pasta meal to fuel up. I found out about a great Italian Restaurant called Via. The meal, the company, the atmosphere was the highlight of the day. Now off for a good nights sleep (before the race are you kidding?). The alarms were set for 3:30. When I say alarms, we had a room wake-up call, Kris's cell phone, Karen's watch, and not 1 but 2 room alarm clocks. We were not going to sleep thru this race. Once we were dressed in our swim gear we opened the curtain to the outside world. It was not happy. Lightning, thunder and torrential downpour greeted us. Now we've got to get to the race site without a driver's window. I know earlier I was complaining about a high pitched squeal for 8 hours, now add a plastic bag whipping away to the mix. God grant me the serenity....
We get to the race site and what would normally have been a jam packed parking lot, was empty. The race would go on, but not for some time. We had a decision to make. After sitting in the parking lot for a little over an hour we made "THE ADULT" decision to head home. We all felt that the amount of rain that was still coming down made the course very unsafe. It would have been different if we only had a few hours to drive home. There were so many rational factors that went into our decision. Sometimes it's a drag being an adult. Oh well! There is IronGirl August 24th. If at first you don't succeed, TRI, TRI again.

Tri Tri Again

The only way to tell you about the weekend is to start at the beginning.
About 6 weeks ago I had to replace my windshield. Ever since the replacement, if you go over 60miles an hour, the windshield whistles. And I don't mean a happy tune whistle, I mean a high pitch, monotone, call every loose dog in the neighborhood whistle. I had the windshield replaced again with the same results. The repairman tells me it's something with the body of the car. Great we're leaving tomorrow. Now 5, 10 even 15 minutes of this whistle even I could have handled, but 8 hours. If you think I'm exaggerating, try listening to whale calls for the same amount of time and remember that we only had one note whale calls. Okay enough of the windshield. Let's talk gas prices. In West Haven, Connecticut a fill up was has much as a round trip ticket to Boston on Southwest. We finally make it to our destination, Worcester, MA.
Now for those of you who have not been to Worcester; do not, I repeat, DO NOT,put it on your places to go before I die list. It is, bar none, the weirdest town I have ever been to. Kris described it as "Stepping into the Twilight Zone", and I think she was being kind. We finally find a restaurant open, close to our hotel and fill up. Watch a little TV, read, cross stitch and we call it a day.
Saturday, the day before race day, we walk around looking for breakfast. Little did we know that in "The Twilight Zone" restaurants and cafes aren't open on Saturday morning, so back to the hotel for breakfast. Then onto the DCU Convention Center for check-in and orientation. This was great for Kris, she got to see how many actual first-timers there were. I hoped it would help reduce her fear factor, she was a warrior. To be continued.....

Ready Or Not

Most of you know that Kris, Karen and I will be heading to New England for the Danskin Triathlon this weekend, but not many of you know what goes into the preparation for such a feat. So I'm going to briefly describe the training that a committed athlete will put into the preparation, and then of course what I did to get ready.
6 months prior to race
Committed Athlete- Start Exercise Journal, entering length of swim, bike, or run each day you train.
Me- What Triathlon?
1-5 months prior to race
CA- Lengthen distance of each sport, go from training 5 days to 7.
Me- Walk dogs, Watch Little People, Big World Marathon.
Week of Race
CA- Check all equipment to make sure in proper working order. Maintain Healthy Diet.
Me- Watch Tour de France, while eating all my Weight Watcher points in one sitting.
Day Before
CA-Wipe Bike down, check list of gear, eat a Big Dinner of Carbs and Protein, get a good night sleep.
Me- Try to get dog smell out of car for road trip, wipe dog snot off all windows, work on my tan, ask Kris what she's wearing on the trip up, eat Big Dinner of Carbs and Carbs.
The next post will be the results. I know you'll all be on pins and needles until our return. Stay Tuned......

Shangra blah

Every year around this time, my friend Kathy goes to Dallas for a 10 day seminar. She is one of the upper echelon with Mary Kay Cosmetics. She asks me to stay at her home to take care of her 4 year old, Rudy. And yes! Rudy's a dog. Can you imagine me and a 4 year old child for 10 days? 911, What's your emergency?
Staying at Kathy's is always a pleasure. I call it Shangralah. She lives in a very secluded area off the beaten path. I'm guessing she has a little over 2 acres, most of it fenced in. Added perks are the pool, pool house, pond, more gardens than I ever want to weed, a potting shed and the list goes on. The problem with my stay this time is I came with a bug. I'm not sure where, what, who or how, I just know I got it bad. It actually hurt to read. Today is the first day I've been out of bed. I sure hope it won't effect my chances of getting on the Wheaties Box after the triathlon next week.....

Girlfriends & Music

Last night 5 friends and I went to see Shelby Lynne at Rams Head. We meet at Sly Fox's outdoor cafe for a bite to eat before heading to Ram's Head. It always amazes me how quickly time gets away from you when a group who hasn't seen each other for a while gets together. We probably could have spent the whole night there just catching up. Katie's trip to Scotland, Laurie's upcoming wedding, Donna and Ellen's sister weekend, Kris's new grandchildren and of course whatever my topic du jour may be. Five minutes before the concert started we realized we needed to get a check, divide it by six and get there without getting nasty stares from the early birds. We made it.
Jim Bianco open for Shelby Lynne. He had a raspy voice which I found kinda sexy. One of my favorites was "Pain Killer". Yes, It was a love song. His in between song banter showed off an easy humor that I found very attractive. What is it about a musician that always makes me want to have clean shaven legs? Aaaahhhh... Shelby and her band came on and rocked. I really like her style of singing. She also introduced some songs from her new album, paying homage to one of her idles, Dusty Springfield. She was great. I always enjoy a good show, throw some good friends in the mix and have me in bed by 9:45pm and I have just had a perfect evening.

Ties in Baltimore

On Sunday Kris and I were invited to tea at our cousin Maura's house. After the garmin took us to Towson via the scenic route, it was fun catching up. Maura has just returned from a solo trip to London. While there she went to both the opening and closing of "Gone with the Wind" on stage, all in one sitting. I guess the Brits didn't care much about the turmoil in the colonies, but Maura enjoyed it. The fascinating portion of the day was when Uncle Bud came by and shared some of the past with us. It is amazing how much a part of our past is in Baltimore. I recognized a lot of the major road and neighborhood names, but unfortunately, knowing very little about the city myself, I'm going to have to wait for the guided tour. The ride home, when Kris and I compared notes, left me with alot of unanswered questions.....

On the bandwagon

With the distance that everybody's life takes them from loved ones, family and foes, I think getting on the blog band wagon is a great way to keep people aware of what's happening in your life. I know I have thoroughly enjoyed Justin, Sarah's and Addie Blog, and am thrilled that Rachel is starting one for her new family. All right, I know half the fun is watching the kids grow up, but I'm still a kid at heart. So my first major blog report will be in 2 weeks, when Kris, Karen and I head up to Boston for the "Danskin New England Triathlon".
So stayed tuned.....