Chocolate Therapy ...

I'm not being kitchy, that was the name of the ice cream I had a whole bowl of for lunch. Dark chocolate ice cream, chocolate cookies and chocolate pudding swirls ... and it was very therapeutic and unlike the drink that was plan B was less likely to get me fired. Sometimes you just have to do whatever it takes to get through the day ...

Really it all started on Sunday with the 4 am wake up call. It was a sprint triathlon day ...

Made it to the city to put my bike in the van and drive the people to transition. Set up transition, warmed up in the DE-SGUSTING water ... seriously, the bottom was all slimy and there were all sort of seaweedy things and other floaties, it smelled funny and it was COLD. But, I'm a big fan of the warm up. I think it helped. Not enough. But some.

We were in wave 4 and it came up quickly. Triathlon friend and I placed ourselves to the right and waited a few seconds to avoid the washing machine. This also helped. I swam swimmingly for the first 5 minutes or so but then, as my HR started to rise, I decided to assess how far I had come and how far I had to go - this was a bad move on two levels: 1) I was in the middle of NOWHERE, the first buoy was miles away and the shore was maybe even further (exaggerate much?) and 2) the swimming to treading water transition made me dizzy. Really dizzy. And I freaked out. Thought about quiting. But the nearest lifeguard wasn't that near. So I decided to wander over to the further lifeguard (who also happened to be in the direction I needed to go) and make a decision when I got there. When I did in fact finally get there I had gotten my panic and heart rate under control enough to put my head down and swim to the end. Not of course without some random dude next to me freaking out when he touched part of this random metal structure that was in the middle of the course - I seriously thought he was drowning and that I was going to have to play the hero. But, alas, he was just over-reacting (I would NEVER do that ... for example if a huge bug landed on me in Costa Rica I would not scream bloody murder. Never. Not me.). I finished the swim but the end sucked - it was definitely long and it was impossible to get in. Everyone felt that way so it must have been some sort of current thing.

Anyway, swim = 21:25 (although, by my watch it was closer to 19 - there was a long trek to T1 and again, switching positions made me dizzy). Goal: avoid 5 minute freak out; I think if I just keep swimming, maybe start out slower to avoid sudden heart rate spike, I'll be good to go in this regard.

T1 = 2:57. Not bad I think.

Bike = The course was two loops and very technical. A few rollers. I knocked my HRM off in T1 so I don't know the details, but I had a hard time getting my heart rate under control. I was breathing heavily the whole time but my pace was decent ...

42:50 for 18.2 mph. Goal: just keep riding, maybe start out slower to get my HR down and realize that a less technical, more scenic (ie, not through an office park) would have been a lot better. Need to get in a few 50ish milers in preparation for the oly. Also ... drinking and driving. Gotta practice that!

T2 = 2:57. At least I'm consistent. I sat down, had a gel, adjusted my new visor (which I love) and had a HORRIFIC rack placement. Excuses.

Run = Dear lord shoot me. Needed water. Needed shade. Needed my legs to work. Needed it to end. The course was insanely short. I finished with walking only through the water stops so I think I'm happy enough.

Sherpa Ian had a good comment - you can't compare one tri to another because especially in the swim, the distances, terrain etc. aren't the same. You can compare your time in the same tri over several years and to a lesser extent you can compare your age group placement. So, I was 32nd out of 56 people in my age group. Goal: be in the top 50% ... we'll have to check on that next year ...

Post tri, it took FOREVER to get home. And there were some annoyances. But I made it. Ate, showered and was off to grandma's for fathers day ...

Strangely full of energy when I got home I packed and cleaned and went to bed around 11:30 AND ... are you ready for this? I got up this morning and swam 2000 yards. My goal until the oly on July 22 is to swim 4-6 days a week or else I seriously might drown. We'll see. At any rate, this left me tired and mortgage people suck and I'm moving to a flood zone and when I got a not what I wanted to hear email I cried. I shut the door and cried ... and here we come full circle to: chocolate therapy. Yummo!

Speaking of Yummo ... met up with the girls for Thai on Saturday (carbo loading ...). I like my local girl friends more and more lately. In an all in good fun moment they tried to embarrass me (cause sometimes it is sooo easy) but I rolled with the punches and the result made me giggle. So yeah, just lay on me and move your arms and legs. It'll make you a better swimmer ...

And speaking of better swimmers, shout out to my friend Dave. He finished his first tri - an oly no less - and 6 weeks ago in Costa Rica he sank to the bottom of the pool when he tried to swim. But he did it. Despite no wetsuits being allowed and swimming to the wrong buoy he persevered (I so would have freaked out and swam to the hottest ... er, nearest life guard) to have a speedy swim and bike. So cheers for David.

Time for bed kiddies or else there will be more chocolate therapy tomorrow.