Scenes from Criminal Minds and a PBS Special

(with a triathlon thrown in for fun!)

Thursday after work I left much, much later then I had planned for my weekend getaway for the local (to my parent's summer home) sprint triathlon. It was a long, long night of driving but I finally arrived at the hotel where I was crashing before heading to the Island. The lobby was empty but the check in dude was nice enough and he suggested I leave my bike in the hotel's ballroom (at first this seemed odd to me but then I remember that many people travel with bikes - mostly beach cruiserish bikes, but whatever - to the island so the hotel clearly had a plan) - it was late and I was going to be in the hotel for less than 8 hours, so I said fine. I was totally down with the ballroom right up until he emerged from behind the desk and I realized he was like 8 feet tall and walked with a weird limp and he unlocked the door to the dark ballroom and suggested I bring my bike to its far back corner ... um, nothankyouverymuch ... scenes from every creepy crime show I've ever watched flashed through my head and I was certain that as soon as I was fully in the ballroom that door would lock behind me and I would belong to the 8 foot tall dude and he would keep me locked up for years. So I did what any good triathlete with a nice bike and an active imagination would do - I gave the bike a shove in the general direction of a table and hoped for the best - my feet at all times stayed firmly in the hallway of the hotel and I then went quickly to my room and double locked the door. Crisis averted!

Friday was a great, relaxing day and Saturday was the race. Really, all I can say about this race is that it was what it was. Its not an A race for sure and not really even a B race - its mostly just a reason to get away to my favorite vacation destination for a weekend. I obviously wanted to improve from last year but the conditions were so different that its almost impossible to compare ... but I'll try, starting with the swim (obviously).

I was hoping for a solid swim because I always hope for a solid swim, its the part of the race where I feel, well, solid. During the swim I felt way off course, but I always had people around me. I also felt like when we made the turn towards home you could swim and swim and swim and get nowhere. This swim is in the sound and it later became clear that there was some sort of current going on. Despite this, I was hugely disappointed to see that my time was 4.5 minutes slower than last year (10:56 v 15:28). However, post race analysis reveals that I had the 15th fastest swim of the 74 people in my age group and that the fastest female swim time in the WHOLE race this year was 10:40 ... so to compare the two is really apples and oranges and I was solidly in the top 1/4 so in the end it was all good.

Someone also told me that the swim was all anyone was talking about in T1. I didn't notice, I was too busy catching my breath after the long sand run and putting on my bike shoes and helmet 18 seconds faster then last year - and considering how hard I worked in the swim this year, that's impressive! Ha.

The bike is what it is. And it is just not long enough for me to get into a groove (not to mention I was stewing over the swim a bit) ... it was about 2.5 minutes faster (44:33 v 47:17) so I'll take it.

T2 was when I realized that there was a distinct chance that we would all spontaneously combust on the run. It was now about 1:30 and it was HOT. Despite this I moved through T2 12 seconds faster then last year.

The run was, as expected, HOT and it was one of those runs where you're trying and working but your legs just aren't moving quickly - it was about 2 minutes slower (31:15 v 33:25).

Overall my time was about 4 minutes off (1:38:06 v 1:42:01) but a fun time was had by all so I can't complain. My super athletic Boston friend got a last minute spot in the race and had the fastest female run time. That is THE FASTEST FEMALE RUN TIME. She was also 4th in her age group.

Unfortunately the next day she almost drowned in the ocean. Seriously. Literally. A good samaritan rescued her because we were not at a lifeguard beach and while I'm a solid swimmer I'm not down with the ocean these days. All an attempted rescue by me would have done is left two people to be saved. Prior to the incident I was thinking that I needed to come to terms with my ocean fear so I'm not one of those scared moms (not that I have imminent plans to become a mom) but now I think I'm down with being scared - I'll just add "not afraid of the ocean" to things I look for in a man. Anyway, keep this in mind for any trips you might take with me to the beach: unless it calm, you're on your own out there!

Seriously though, she didn't know that if you are caught in a rip tide you swim parallel to shore. Despite the fact that given the rough conditions, swimming parallel might not have been an option, everyone should know that, thus the PBS special. And for those that know me and could envision me freaking out, know that I was alone in that general part of the beach (there were others that would have heard me if I yelled) except for the good samaritan's friends who, like the good samaritan, might have been 12, and therefore I remained incredibly calm - I kept my eye on her so I could point her out to anyone else that might have been needed to assist and I was ready to call 911 (the only reason I didn't do that initially is that we were down a long dirt road and far from town ... it would have been too late). It was only later that I wondered what happens when you're on vacation with a casual friend and she drowns ... it freaked me out a bit, but in the end I was just grateful that I didn't find out the answers to that question!

I anticipate this weekend's triathlon to be much less eventful ... more on that later.

Stay cool kids!

2 days. 150 miles.

Given the number of times in the first 12 hours of my epic 150 mile weekend that I thought about not doing the ride, it is rather amazing that I can preface this story with ... this was so.much.fun! And I want to do it again! But, once I tell you about it, you will think I'm insane ...

Sitting at work on Friday, I really couldn't get my head around the fact that I was driving to Boston that night. By myself. I almost forgot to print directions and when I got home after work to collect my bike I sat on my couch and thought about just staying home. I didn't. I packed up the car and 15 miles into the 200 mile trip there was a detour. And traffic. And I almost turned back. But I didn't.

And eventually, 4 hours later I was in Quincy and could not find the hotel. I was so close but I just kept missing the proper turn - at 10 pm on a Friday night though I did not consider turning back. I eventually found the hotel and there were no parking spots. Seriously? Really? I eventually found some staff parking and in an effort to get everything packed up and into the hotel in one trip I spilled a bottle of water in my purse - under normal circumstances this would have been nothing more than an annoyance but it almost ruined my weekend.

An hour later after I was checked in, had made a few phone calls, sent a few texts, checked facebook etc. I went to charge my iphone and realized that the charger was wet and ... would not charge. My battery was LOW so I emailed the Boston people I knew that were doing the race and begging for an extra charger ....

I woke up early the next morning and read one email that said an extra charger had been packed when ... my phone died. Awesome.

I gathered up my stuff and headed out giving myself 45 minutes to travel 6 miles and get breakfast. Unfortunately the last mile of that trip took 1 hour - and that was without a breakfast stop. I parked when the ride should have started. Fortunately, it was delayed. I checked in, grabbed 1/4 of a bagel and a shot of coffee and could not find my team. And I had no phone. I had to put my luggage on the luggage truck but I had a decision to make: keep the luggage and head home or check the luggage and risk not finding anyone I knew until the first night's stop (at best).

I soldiered on and found the group with seconds to spare. Literally. Things were going ok - I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with the faster group if I had any hope of finishing the second day so at the first rest stop I fell back with the next group which - as is typical of my life - was mostly couples. As we approached the second rest stop I decided I needed a bit of solo time to get my head together so I pressed on and ... got a flat.

I can change a flat. But its slow and I did not want the group to pass me because ... all together now ... I had no phone. So I did what I could in terms of changing the tire without really taking my eyes off the road. I basically jumped into the road to prevent the group from passing me and while I can change a tire slowly I get even slower when under pressure so I delegated what was left to one of the group. I kind of wanted to cry but he did great.

Or so I thought for 5 minutes until it went flat again. The guys in the group wanted to macgyver the tire together with a gel wrapper but I convinced them to let me SAG to the next rest stop (about 10 miles) and get professional help. Interestingly my SAG was a couple dressed in tiger costumes.

Don't ask. I didn't.

I still felt awful for taking up time and attention and wondered why I came on this journey once my friend bailed and I did briefly consider if there were any options that resulted in me going home but there weren't and the professional declared my bike to have a mere pinch flat that was remedied while I scarfed a turkey sandwich and chugged a pepsi that someone brought to me. They were awesome and once I was all set we were on our way and the experience ultimately led us to bond. Or at least led me to think we did because for the rest of the day I was much more at ease. Although I should note that in the latter half of the days there were hills. And I was promised a flat ride. Liars.

We arrived at the first night's stop, which was beautiful. I had a normal roommate who I had spent most of the day with. There were showers and food. Once I was clean I think I ate more then I've ever eaten in one sitting. And then we just sat around looking at the ocean, drinking beer, listening to music and rehashing the day. I was the flat girl - this was not a reference to my lack of boobs - by the time the story had spread up the line I had 5-7 flats.

Lights out was at 9 so we went to bed. And ... I don't think I've ever said this before, and I might not ever say this again, but I should have camped because that night in the top bunk was the hottest, most miserable, restless night sleep I've ever had. Lesson learned.

The next day was more of the same. Except there might have been more hills. And when it ended I decided to forgo the booze cruise and bus back to Boston to begin my 5 hour ride home.

Doesn't really sound fun, right? But for whatever reason it was. So much so, I'd like to do it again. Crazy.

Of course, it took me close to a week to recover and then it was the fourth and now I leave tomorrow for my favorite local but not local to me sprint triathlon!

Happy weekend peeps.