Quick Little Recap

saturday...oh saturday...

i headed out with snellings before the sun came up to meet up with the naylor's girls (and florida girls!) to go for a pre-race swim and then ride the course and check it out. i was really looking forward to this since it was my first time really being active in the week since patriot's. snells picked me up and my bike had a flat tire - argh! well we need to get to the caravan on time, so i will fix it when we get there. put my bike ont he car and sssssssss there goes the air in margo's tire! seriously?! (this is when we should have clued in to go back to bed)

we got to the park and brrrrrr. daggone it's cold out! thank goodness for wetsuits! i was a little nervous at the idea of crabs and jellyfish in the rappahannock, but i put my big girl pants on and went for it. there was a storm coming in which made for some waves and current under the dark sky. I headed out to the first buoy (thank you to IM JW and his family for making us a course and snells for her kayak skills). and made the turn. i know this is just for fun now, so i had fun and didnt' even look at my watch or anything. and after the white caps of timberman, i am not worried abotu these waves. still gave me a few mouthfulls of the nice brackish water, but i was more comfortable int eh situation having experienced it before. i found myself going with the waves and not through the waves. as we made out way back on the sandy beach i scurried up out of the water. when asked why i simply said i wanted to keep my toes and the rappahannock does have crabs in it...then the mass exodus out of the shallow water and onto the land. your welcome for adding something else to think about! :)

time to go off for a windy and cold ride...especially with wet tri shorts on! brrrr! TG shelley and new training pal help me change my tube while i change my shoes and we all get ready. but hmph. we can't get the tube on. it's the right size and everything! coach blake and IM master coach som come to help. pop! there goes the tube. rats! luckily coach b had antoher tube. how many ironman finishers does it take to change a tube?! the question of the day. fianlyl the tube is on and the inflated. we head off to try to catch up with the group. (oh yeah here is when triboy JW gets a flat!) 1/2 mile in i notice i am bumping up adn down. i ask coach b and his response...you day is done. thinking i could have done something to the wheel itself - well boo!

we hop back in the car headed back to richmond directly to 3sports. do not pass go. do not collect $200.00. (thank you snells for your patience). they think it's the tires and not the wheel so i walk out with 2 new tires, and wheels with new lining in them. sigh. i need a nap.

and nap is what i did. for 3 hours. :)

then i headed down to raleigh to meet up with greg and his coach and friends for his big day! i got there and greg and kenneth started preparing their bikes and bags for their first half iron! we enjoyed a carbo filled meal adn headed off to get a good night's rest.

race day...
everyone seemed to get up without a glitch and we were on the road only a few minutes after the scheduled departure time. prime parking! greg and kenneth got bodymarked, picked up their chips and set up transition. i shivered. thank goodness i threw in a pair of jeans at the last minute! and my fave TG hoodie sure did come in handy!

it was a brisk day. the air was chill. the wind was rough.

the swim went off and coming 35th out of the water was greg! looking strong after fighting the current. while the boys were on the bike, coach thys (greg's coach) and his buddy dom and i entertained ourselves with football and the chalk. we covered a good portion of the run course with pictures sayings and just being silly. we had a few people watching us jsu tlaughing at us. you would think i had two little boys with me - it was great, though! the guys perservered the bike course and headed off to the run...promptly to be inspired by the chalk.

Overall - greg finished his first half in record time - 5:10 and change. So happy for him! and Kenneth finished his first half that he trained so hard for! Way to go guys!

Back to richmond...celebratory maragarita with friends and then much needed beauty sleep.

and the week begins...