PREAMBLE: Cranberry Country Triathlon Race Report

OK, forgive me my absence and, as WB pointed out, my introspective moment. For some reason, August seems to be the month of fans and dog doo. Two years running now, August has brought major upheaval. Curious.

RACE REPORT!!! Yes, I'm sure you were hoping I'd get there eventually. SO there was a lot of really great training leading up to my first full Olympic distance race, The Cranberry Country Triathlon. It was 7 weeks of SMART training, focused training. Weasel Boy planned it all out for me and I felt very ready physically. I'd done the work. In retrospect, the only thing I could've done more of is brick workouts...it's always such a rude awakening to me when I put all three sports together into one day of racing. I guess that's part of the game.

Physically, I was set. Mentally, I was a wreck. My dad's cancer is causing some complications that required him to have surgery the week before the race (which was on August 27th) so my brain was all kinds of whacked out about that. He did REALLY well with the surgery and has recovered nicely. Then my aunt called to say that my grandmother, age 89, in the very advanced stages of alzheimers, was likely not going to make it thru the week. She had stopped eating or taking fluids and it looked like the end was near. Thankfully, she's been comfortable and in good care so her transition from this world would be peaceful...I said goodbye to her the day before my race, thinking I wouldn't see her again. And here we are, almost a month later and she's rallied. Amazing woman, that grandma. Only she knows what's in store... she always liked to keep us guessing.

And then, amidst those mentally draining events, I moved. Again. Not going into any details but I'm doing okay with the help and support of lots of great family and friends. Triathlon has given me so so much to prepare for this time in my life and it's carrying me thru the speed bumps. My extended triathlon and swimming family has kept me sane. A huge thanks to ALL of you - you know who you are.

So, I headed down to my brother's place in Boston on Friday afternoon to visit with him, his sweetest ever girlfriend and my recovering dad. We had a nice time catching up and sharing dinner. And then Saturday I headed to Grandma's place in RI which was only 30 mins from the race site. I stopped in at pre-race day registration and picked up my numbers and goody bag and then spent a wonderful afternoon with cousins and aunts watching sailing races...and then visiting Grandma. It seemed totally appropriate that Grandma's 12th birthday present, a little red sailboat called the Rhode Island Red, swept the races that day and the next, skippered by my bro and cousins. You can see a cool video of Sunday's start here (click on Wind Hill Trophy 2006 and then on Results). Very fun stuff. We went to the awards dinner on Saturday night and then it was off to bed for this racer! With so much going on, it really didn't feel like I was going to race the next morning. Even so, I slept pretty well. No oh-my-god-i-forgot-my-bike pre-race nightmares anyway...