A Pictorial Journey Through Mayhem

I just couldn't resist adding pictures of the race this past weekend. There was something almost absurd about swimming in a murky, artificial brown lagoon surrounded by roller coasters and Ferris Wheels. I can't help myself!

Behold the swim start, where 100 women are loaded onto a narrow boat ramp and held, by noodle, until the gun goes off. If you are in the back of said wave, instantly add 2 minutes to your swim time:

Here is the course, before it got crowded. It swam a whole lot like 500 meters, but that's awfully hard to tell with all the traffic. Remember the boat ramp? Well, that's also the swim EXIT! Ah, happier times. This is me on the bike. Suck it in and smile for the camera! Notice the full water bottles. No nutrition or liquid for me in this race. No sir! And I felt fantastic, so obviously this is a great strategy for sprint distance races.

Oh, and here's the best part. The finish! Except I really cannot explain the whole hands thing. I didn't realize I did this, but this is the 2nd finish where I have been documented to do this. It's not a "heck yeah, I finished the race and I am awesome!" finish. It's more like, 'thank freakin' goodness I am done!' You can see my rabbit in the foreground. She was in the wave in front of me and was the only person I wanted to beat in the race. Somehow I was content to just sit behind her for the entire race, because I'm.....lazy?!

And we cannot forget the team photo. Look at how big we are! I'm ashamed to say that even after all the name tag days and training sessions, I still don't know half the women who race with us. Maybe one day I'll get better with names. :) But this was our biggest team yet, and what a great place for the newbies to cut their teeth in the world of triathlon.

Now, wasn't that fun?!