4 down, 1 big one to go.

Today was the nations triathlon and, my last "regular season" race before... wait for it... IRONMAN. ohhhh man.

this was a really great race! very very well organized, beautiful scenery and a great crowd. I have realized that these largers races tend to stress me out only because there are SO many people around a thte checking in process is rather painful. there are mandatory meetings, packet pickups and huge expos going on in a very large hotel with tons of triathletes running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

despite my hatred of crowds however, this was a really great event. my wave started at 8:12, one of the last waves to go out and i felt really really great! the swim was a bit of a challenge not only because it was the Potomac, and the potomac is... well.. disgusting, but also this was the first race in 3 months that had NOT cancelled the swim. so despite my extensive in pool ( and some Lake michigan training) i was a little rusty on my race swim. depsite this howveer, i came in 3rd for my age group in the swim, and started a really bike ride. the run was average, but fast enouggh to get my 2nd place in my age group (out of 77) and 34th out of all the women over all (951 women).

anyway. now i have a month and a half until ironman day... i am going to set up an email to all my potential fundraising contributers explaining how everything is going to work. the tentative Start date for fundraising is Octover 6th. this way, by Halloween, it will be the full 26 days that Fundable.com allows me to collect money. ....more to come later.