So I did it again....4th year......and I am learning new things about myself, about others, and about what I want to be.....
My swimming was good...my group averaging 45-50 jumped in the pool 15-20 seconds apart and swam what they call a "snake swim" weaving up and down the lanes under the ropes until we reached the last lane. Then we climbed out of the pool....ran to where our bikes stood in waiting formations ready and eager to have the owners take them for a spin. My goodness though, the transition from pool to my bike seemed longer, further, yet we got to run past a steady stream of onlookers waiting for their own family member, friend, or love one to come running past them. But still they would cheer most on even though they may not have known them. ......I heard my name....."Go Sharie!".....and it wasn't even my husband's voice.....just someone in the crowd who knew me.
As I got to my bike, I could feel the warmth of the sun. So all the stuff I packed in my can beside my bike to weather the cold didn't seem needed and too much to bother with. I put on my helmet, slipped on my shorts, scurried into my shoes, my number 1023 secured to my abdomen, and my bike gloves jerked on......snapping my bike out of it's wooden holder, I ran it to the bike start. Soon as I heard the chirp of my chip as I crossed the carpet, I jumped on my bike and pushed with all my might against the peddles that would be my stable platforms for another 30 minutes.
Then as I rounded the first curve on the way out of the gates, I heard it. That awful noise I knew was probable....the tire pump I added to my bike the hour before I parked it yesterday in its numbered spot. I freaked out for just a second and did the worse thing a racer could do. By adding something to my bike without test driving it first, I adding minutes to my bike time. The darn pump came loose twice during my travel towards the nine mile mark. So twice I had to completely stop to tighten it making me have to restart with all the energy I could mustard considering my thoughts and words were just.......*%#*....
My swimming was good...my group averaging 45-50 jumped in the pool 15-20 seconds apart and swam what they call a "snake swim" weaving up and down the lanes under the ropes until we reached the last lane. Then we climbed out of the pool....ran to where our bikes stood in waiting formations ready and eager to have the owners take them for a spin. My goodness though, the transition from pool to my bike seemed longer, further, yet we got to run past a steady stream of onlookers waiting for their own family member, friend, or love one to come running past them. But still they would cheer most on even though they may not have known them. ......I heard my name....."Go Sharie!".....and it wasn't even my husband's voice.....just someone in the crowd who knew me.
As I got to my bike, I could feel the warmth of the sun. So all the stuff I packed in my can beside my bike to weather the cold didn't seem needed and too much to bother with. I put on my helmet, slipped on my shorts, scurried into my shoes, my number 1023 secured to my abdomen, and my bike gloves jerked on......snapping my bike out of it's wooden holder, I ran it to the bike start. Soon as I heard the chirp of my chip as I crossed the carpet, I jumped on my bike and pushed with all my might against the peddles that would be my stable platforms for another 30 minutes.
Then as I rounded the first curve on the way out of the gates, I heard it. That awful noise I knew was probable....the tire pump I added to my bike the hour before I parked it yesterday in its numbered spot. I freaked out for just a second and did the worse thing a racer could do. By adding something to my bike without test driving it first, I adding minutes to my bike time. The darn pump came loose twice during my travel towards the nine mile mark. So twice I had to completely stop to tighten it making me have to restart with all the energy I could mustard considering my thoughts and words were just.......*%#*....
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