Greetings Boys and Girls -
Sitting here with my Guinness watching the Cubs
- Marlins game. It's 4:30 in the afternoon.
I had a pretty full day.
Started off going down to the Pier with Lesley.
She introduced to me to about a million different
people. Fortunately, half of them seemed to
be named Bill. Not that that really mattered.
Some were done swimming. Some were just getting
started. I got in the water with Lesley and
about four others. Their goal was to do 2.4
miles in the water. The initial plan was to
do a 1.2 mile loop twice. I was going to tag
along and go by feel. Well, right from the get-go
I get dropped. Fine. Nothing out of the
ordinary. I just keep plugging along.
Get out to the buoy I reached yesterday. Feeling
fine so I decide to go to the next one. Lesley
and Cullen are bobbing in the water. If we head
back it'd be about a 1.5 mile swim. Cullen stretches
all 6' 2" of his height out of the water and sees
the turn around buoy. Lesley and Cullen decide
that they're going to swim the entire course.
What the heck, count me in. I get dropped again.
I'm out in the middle of nowhere and there is nobody
around. I don't even see the buoy we're going
towards. I keep going out, away from shore.
Did I mention that I have absolutely no identifying
items on my person (fortunately Renate will be on
a plane by the time this is published so she won't
read it and panic). I keep going.
The water seems rough to me. Not "Brazil
rough", but not "Mirror Lake smooth". Finally,
way off in the distance I see something that resembles
a buoy. At least I hope that's what it is.
Eventually I get there. Lesley and Cullen have
been bobbing in the water. There's a kayak making
sure people don't continue on. I ask them if
they think the water is rough. Yes. Lesley
called it a "washing machine". They assured
me it would be easier heading back to shore.
I don't have much choice. There doesn't seem
to be a second seat in the kayak. I tell them
that there's no sense waiting for me at the half-way
point. They like that and immediately drop me.
It is slightly easier heading back. I decide
to do 50 hard strokes followed by 25 easy. Just
to give me something to do while I'm trying to get
back. I'm into my third set when I see a rather
large ray below me. I forget that my head is
under water when I take my next breath. Water,
while containing oxygen, doesn't work. Cough
. . . cough . . . hack . . . hack . . . all while
keeping my eye on this creature. (Julie Wright
is off-line, right?) I raise my head and see
the kayak that was at the turn around buoy.
The first thought I had was that I ended up going
in a circle and I'm heading back away from shore.
Then I realized I was last in this little race and
he was the sag wagon. I asked him what kind
of ray would be in the water. He said nothing
I had to worry about. Then muttered something
under his breath about this stupid triathlete who
can't swim very well and I have to baby sit him all
the way back to shore. He didn't really say
that. He was very nice. Figured out, based
on my vague description, that it was probably a Manta
Ray and that I was very lucky to have seen one.
Yeah, right. My high heart rate made me feel
very lucky.
The rest of the swim, while long, was uneventful.
Eventually I made it back to shore and staggered over
to Lesley and Cullen.
|
“ |
The water
seems rough to me. Not 'Brazil Rough'," but
'Mirror Lake Smooth'.” |
|
|
— Steve
Noone |
We get cleaned up and head out for coffee and breakfast.
And meeting more people. Check out a few bike
shops. Lesley buys something from each.
I pick up some CO2 cartridges for the week.
I'll give those that I don't use to Lesley after the
race. Then it's back to Lesley's house.
It's about 12:30. I'm going to do an easy brick,
an hour bike followed by a thirty minute run.
It's really not bikeable or runable near the house,
so I drive back into town. While I'm driving
down the mountain (I think Rich and Lesley refer to
their house as being "up slope" and town being "down
below") it starts pouring rain. I manage to
find the windshield wiper switch. (I forgot
to mention that a different idiot light came on this
time. The other one eventually went out yesterday.
This one had a little oil can with a wrench underneath.
I don't know if it's time to oil my wrenches or what
I'm supposed to do.) I'm not worried about the
rain. I'm sure it's dry down where I'm going.
It is. I park at the Aquatic Center near
the old airport. And then it's a short easy
ride out to the Queen K. Where there is lots
of traffic. There's a wide, well-paved shoulder
(something that would make the Rte. 282 ride great
back home) so it's really not too bad. It is
awfully windy, though. I'm not pushing too hard.
Mostly just making sure the bike is working, getting
in some easy miles on the course. I get out
about 11 miles and turn back to town. The wind
is not quite as bad, nor is the traffic, on this side
so I spend some time on the aero bars. The first
thing I notice is that I need to adjust the position
a tad when I get home. I end up riding the last
couple of miles with Nancy from Canada. She
qualified six weeks ago at Ironman Canada. That
was her first Ironman. This is her second.
Back to the car. A quick transition.
Unusual in that I had to take the front wheel off
and put the bike in the car before I could go for
a run. Then an easy run into town. I ended
up running to the Sea Village, the condo place Renate
and I are staying. Then back to the car where
my training day was done. Tomorrow I'm going
for a little longer bike, followed by the same thirty
minute run I did today. Then check into
the condo. And pick up Renate at the airport.
Things are going well. It still wasn't all that
crowed down at the swim. I'm sure that's going
to change drastically over the next couple of days.
There were a few bikes out on the road, but that,
too, will change. I'll see what happens tomorrow
and get back to you all.
