Despite my cold, this weekend was fantastic and I’m not even sure where to begin.  I guess the best place is to thank everyone for your support with this weekend’s race.  I so appreciate the texts, emails, comments, rides, dinner, bike concierge, help with my gear, cheerleading, and photography (Dad…you did great work with my camera!).  I was smiling all weekend!

 

On Friday, we hit the road for Green Lake, Wisconsin.  We have close family friends with a house on the lake.  Their son, my brother and I were all doing the short distance triathlon on Sunday.  The three of us have never done a race together and after a year of talking about, I was excited for the weekend!  I knew that we would have a lot of fun hanging out (because we always do) and that this no-pressure race would be a fun way to be active and see more of Green Lake.  On the way up, I saw the biggest (and by that I mean the widest) rainbow that I have ever seen in my entire life.  I swear you could see every color clearly, and this picture doesn’t even do it justice!

 

 

The BOY and I arrived a few minutes after my family just as the sun was setting over the lake.

 

 

By the time we unpacked the car, my Mom already had a dinner spread set out for everyone.  We tucked into the couches to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.  I guess I should warn you that I LOVE the Olympic games.  I used to think that I was going to be an Olympic gymnasts…crazy, I know…that is a story for a different day!  We dug into all of the sweets that I had made for the weekend and had a great time watching the parade of countries, trying to guess the sport of the flag holder, before the final torch was lit. 

 

 

 

We went to bed at a reasonable time and were up early for some fun on the lake.  We all piled into the boat before breakfast to enjoy the beautiful weather and watch my brother do a wakeboard run.

 

  

 

 

 

After the boat ride, our friend and I went out for a 30 minute run.  When we got back, most of the gang was awake, so we went over to the sand bar to hang out and throw around a football.

 

 

 

Then zipped across the lack for packet pickup.  Coolest way to travel to packet pick up EVER!

 

 

I was feeling less congested which was great, but my energy was totally shot!  I am surprised how much this cold took out of me.  I was starting to feel a little nervous, especially as the competitive talk between my brother and I began.  When we arrived at the site, they were already starting to set up for the race.  The three of us (my bro, our friend, and I) headed up to get our packets.  The boys had done this race in the past, so they knew exactly where to go.

 

 

 

It was a gorgeous day and the views from the race site were impressive!

 

 

We arrived home to find the pups catching up on the Olympic games.

 

 

I jumped in the shower and then headed down to the pier for the ceremonial pre-triathlon braiding of the hair while the BOY, Mom and I sipped on a cocktail.

 

 

With skirt steak on the menu, the BOY was pegged for grilling duty.  My contribution to dinner was the pasta, which I took care of quickly.  Unfortunately, the grill was a few burners short, and so the rest of dinner (minus the pasta) took much longer than expected.  I strolled down to the dock to watch the sun set (and take a few dozen pictures) before dinner.

 

 

Dinner was incredible!  I had salmon, pasta, grilled veggies with olive oil, and ramen slaw and was seriously stuffed by the time I crashed on the couch.  I had zero room for dessert, but everyone else dug into the fudge and puppy chow.

 

 

Despite taking an afternoon nap, I was wiped out from my cold and the day.  I watched a little of the Olympics, trying to channel my inner Michael Phelps and Park Tae-hwan for the triathlon swim.  Then, packed up my gear (checking everything for a second and third time) before heading up to bed around 10.

 

 

As I lay in bed, I went through the morning’s race in my head trying to remember all of the details of transition and mentally preparing myself for the swim.  I did two tri’s last summer, but it’s been almost a year since my last one, which left me feeling a little rusty.  Although I felt well-trained, I wasn’t sure how much the cold would wear me out, and I knew it was going to be a hilly race.  Despite my nerves (which are pretty typical for me the night before a race), I slept great!  Until 5:20am on race day when my alarm went off before the sun was rising…

 

 

Coming up next…Race Day in Green Lake, Wisconsin!

 

 

Can’t wait to read about this weekend’s triathlon details?  Here are last summer’s tri posts:

TREK Women’s Triathlon Part I

TREK Women’s Triathlon Part II

Bang’s Lake Olympic Distance

More Triathlon Photos