travels, races, and other musings

Pre-Race Roger was volunteering so he left before I did. I left the house around 5:15 and drove down to the parking area a little over a mile from the race site, parked and took the shuttle (we had mandatory bike racking the day before so I just had the rest of my gear with me). I got body marked by Roger and my friend Amy who also drew a smiley face on the back of my calf. :) I went in and set up my transition and chatted with a couple of the girls nearby. I applied copious amounts of sunscreen, used the port-a-potty, ate a Stinger gel, took two ibuprofen and one Imodium, drank a half a bottle of Ultima, and stared at my transition area. All set so I headed out to go to the swim start. Swim I was in the second to last swim wave - women 34 and under. This race had fewer waves than other races I've done so they were a little bigger overall. I still placed myself near the front. It was a wet start and the water was deep enough that we couldn't stand, but not deep enough t