A Rude Awakening

This morning, I was the next to the last person picked from the audience to be a contestant on 'Jeopardy!'.

I was so excited. I made my way down the aisles and up the stage. I took my place behind the podium. I was ready to go.

And then P woke me up.

Dang it! I could have won MEGA BUCKS!!!

I am Full

As I sat watching the television last night, immersed in Obama's speech, I was full.

My glass was full of champagne.

My eyes were full of tears and then they overflowed.

My heart was full of pride.

As I looked at my children, watching with me, my whole being was full of love and hope.

Two Down

Same course as last year but it seems like there are many, many more participants. Checking the results afterward showed that there were almost twice the total number of women who completed the race this year.

Pre-race: This year, I've convinced a friend from work to do the triathlon with me. D and I arrive at the site at 6:45 am. D's wave starts at 8:10, mine at 8:15. We find a decent spot in the transition area although it's apparent that we've missed all the really good ones near the exit. So many people! We get our chips and our bodies marked.

8:10 : D is off! Woo! Woo!

8:12 : Getting ready to start. Step in water. Er, sludge. No seriously, the shore was black and very goopy. Think wet, think slimy. The water was opaque. Look to right, look to left. Everyone else's face is slightly disgusted. I'm going swimming in this? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew!

8:15 SWIM START : Yes! I'm going swimming in this. Here we go. Goggles on. Goggles fill with water. I'm getting kicked, there are people all around. (Hindsight: My wave was the largest of the race. 174 women. Last year, the field was 78.) I come up for air and swallow water. Don't think about what's in the water! Keep moving. Try to clear goggles while swimming. FAT CHANCE. Getting run into from behind. Argh! All that nice freestyle practice? Fuggedaboutit! About the only thing I can do is breaststroke otherwise I'm running into people and have no idea which direction I'm headed. Must keep going. A couple times I catch a break and do a few strokes of crawl then it's back to breaststroke again. I'm breathing really hard. Much harder than I should be. I try to calm down and keep moving. As I make the second turn and head for the shore, the field suddenly seems to clear up and I don't have anyone in front of me. I freestyle towards the shore, pop out of the water, rip off my goggles and fill my cap with water. I also notice that my watch has lost its waterproof-ness and is now history. I'm a little bummed but I must focus. Now, where was that bike again? Second picnic table, turn right, two rows behind the three mylar balloons. (Apparently, one of our friends who came to watch saw me come out of the water and was screaming my name and shouting encouragement. I didn't hear a thing. Was totally in the zone. Must find bike.)

T1: Take my swim cap of water and empty it into my little plastic bin. Step into bin and rinse off my feet. Feel extremely pleased with my resourcefulness as my feet are now clean(er) and not sandy anymore. OK. Shirt. Check. Shorts. Check. Socks. Check. Shoes. Spray on sunscreen. Little bit of energy gel. Drink too. Get on bike. Get going!

Bike: AWESOME! I love the bike ride this year. I felt strong and steady. I feel like I could ride on and on and on. My little bike computer tells me I'm going at a pretty good clip. I think I have a chance of lowering my time from last year.

T2: Ripped through this one. Dropped off bike. Dropped helmet. Grabbed hat. One sip. Go!

Run: Argh. Not an auspicious start. There was water to be had right away but after I take a drink, it goes down the wrong tube. I try not to choke and keel over. It was only 3 miles but it felt long, long, long. When the final stretch was in sight, I couldn't wait to cross the finish line. Time to lengthen strides. Look for boys. Then two women come blowing by me as they sprinted to the end. Oh well. Maybe next year that will be me.

Cause there will be a next year.

Final time: Three minutes faster than last year. Yipee!

Triathlon, Saturday

Gulp.

It's two days away. No, less than two days. In less than 32 hours, I'll be getting up and packing up the car to head to the race site.

I've been training, but not as hard as last year. Surprisingly, I'm not freaked out about the swim (400 yds), I'm looking forward to the bike (11 mi) but I'm slightly worried by the run (3 mi). Why is that? I've spent the most time running, I've been swimming just once a week and I've been biking maybe a total of 6 miles per week. I don't feel as strong running this year. Maybe it's because I'm not also getting ready for a half marathon so I haven't been doing any long runs. My max has been three miles at a time.

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Ready or not, here I come.

School Talk

Last night, just before I turned out the lights in the boys' room, D asks me a question. He's in third grade this year.

"Mama, is today the 9-1-1 day?"

I think to myself, "9-1-1? Oh, 9/11."

"Yes, today is 9/11."

"Mama, a long time ago that's when the planes crashed into the building."

---pause---

"Yes, sweetie, that's what happened."

A long time ago.

Seven years ago. D was just over a year old and we were living in Philly. A lifetime ago for him but just a moment ago in my memory.

We remember.

Dropping a Ball

Blogging has fallen by the wayside a bit. Between work, kids and exercise, something had to give and blogging has been it. Combine that with a decided lack of inspiration of things to blog about and you've got a precipitous drop in posting.

Every so often, I'll have an idea and a half-formed post in my mind but it seems to evaporate in the night and lose out to the siren call of my bedtime.

I've got to get my blogging mojo back. When it returns, the posts shall too.

In the meantime, I'm working and running and swimming and biking and practicing aikido and cooking and chasing after my three guys. Life is good.

"grass smell pool"

If you add the word 'rotting' to the other three words in this post's title, you'll have the combination that I was googling late this afternoon.

"Why?," you might ask.

Let's just say that we (i.e. M) emptied out the pool in our backyard. As he slowly removed the vinyl from the spot it had occupied for most of the summer, a smell attacked our senses. Ah, it brought back memories of visits to the country. Yes, our backyard smells just like a cow pasture. Lovely.

We are hoping for a dry, hot week and that the neighbors don't sic the HOA on us.