From a letter to a friend

I would love to tell you I ran a half marathon this morning but that would be a bald-faced lie. I hiked and ran a half marathon this morning. It was the Baker's Dozen at Horsetooth Mountain Park and it was pathetic and a bitch but I did it. It was a very uphill course... and then the downhill bits I ran. Not sure how they got in so much more up than down...curious that. I'm pleased though, it's my first "event" of any length in 1 1/2 years. Oh, and I won a pair of socks as an age group award... that tells you how few people did it. I was tied for DFL.

Last weekend I did my first triathlon in Longmont. Again, a fairly pathetic time but not all bad. I was mid-pack for my first one. The swim went ok, the bike went well, and the run went great though a little slow after all that other stuff. It was so much easier to just run but now I have an excuse for my sucky run times.

Yesterday I did my first open water swim. That was lame too. Do you see a pattern here? Actually, it was meant to be a learning experience before an open water clinic tonight. It was 61 icy cold degrees in the Aurora Res. Brrrrrr... but that hash name is taken. Thanks heavens for the full wetsuit I bought for swimming. Nevermind the fact that I have to smear butter on most of my bodyparts to wedge myself into it. I got semi-comfortable being in water that is super murky and instead of a little line on the bottom all you can see is fish - big freakin' huge fish. It was a little choppy which also took some getting used to. I managed a few lengths of the swim area and then practiced swimming into the chop around a bouy. Not much of a workout but then we got on the bikes for a couple spins around the res. I mostly loafed it and chatted with a friend I used to run with a lot a couple years ago.