Much Ado About Nothing!!!

After spending a good portion of Friday in a tizzy over things I couldn't control, everything worked out fine. Saturday was spent hanging out with my Team in Training group at the race expo, and doing a group swim. The water was kind of rough, which actually was good practice for Sunday.

Saturday night we had the pasta party with the 5 other TNT chapters that are doing the race. No matter how many events I do with TNT I'm always really moved by the survivors who speak at the pre-race pasta party. Both people had amazing stories to share, and their attitude regarding the illness is amazing. I wonder if I'd be that brave if faced with a catastrophic illness.

So much for client/massage therapist confidentiality. I get back from the pasta party and there's a long phone message from my friend and fellow KC traveller, Mary. She also gets her massages from Lisa. I guess she and Lisa were talking about my pre-race anxieties that I had been venting to Lisa about during last week's massage session. Mary gave me this wonderful pep talk about how Westchester is my home field, and that I know the course and am a strong hill climber. She told me not be scared by some outsider from Florida. It gave me a great boost, and put me in a good frame of mind for Sunday.

So why did I title this entry "Much Ado About Nothing"? First of all the ringer from Florida was a no-show. I kept looking for a bike at her assigned spot on the rack. Nada! She did not end out making the trip after all. Second of all, the woman who my USI teammate said was so awesome a cyclist and runner and would probably win the age group, is deathly afraid of the water. She came up to me in before the race and said how scared she was and had been crying all morning. I guess she had been spooked by the choppy water on Saturday, and it looked the same on Sunday. She also was nervous about being in the next last wave with all the guys. I told her to do the swim at her pace, and to remember that she did St. Croix 1/2 iron in the spring. She confessed to me that her swim coach had swam along side her during the race. I had heard she wasn't a very good swimmer, but I didn't realize that she had such water issues. I guess it makes me appreciate the fact that I've been swimming since I was 5, and I'm comfortable in the water.

So to make a long story short, I smoked the age group again by over 10 minutes. If one is interested, the long story can be found at: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=27518&posts=2

Now if only I thought the World Championships could turn out so well. Reality check coming!!!