GCT 2008 Part 2: My 1st Duathlon

"The swim's been canceled!"

After all the talk on the forum lately (as a result of Steelhead's swim cancellation), I thought he was joking at first. Maybe I just hoped he was joking.

I said, "You're kidding right!?"

"Nope. Coast Guard canceled the swim."

MAJOR BUMMER!!!!

The decision was the right one, just not in my favor or the one that I wanted. I grew up on Lake Erie. My grandfather always had boats and as a result I spent my summers out on Lake Erie. I have seen a great day go to hell in a few minutes. Lake Erie has power that many overlook and on a day like yesterday, even the strongest swimmers would have struggled. I knew if I had been out there I would have spent more time trying to swim back to my line than actually swimming forward on the course. The under tow was strong, the waves were at least 3-5 and the caps were plentiful.

For anyone new to my blog or who doesn't know me, running is my least favorite thing to do. As result, it is the thing I 'practice' the least. In fact, until yesterday, I haven't been running in at least two weeks. And believe me it shows. However, I love the swim and the bike and am much better at those as a result. Plus, nothing warms up my muscles and joints better than a great swim.

Since I was already feeling tight and twingy in my back, I knew that the 1 mile run wasn't going to do much to help me today.

I unpacked my transition bag and grabbed all my swim related things and threw them on the backseat. I checked my tires and headed off for body marking.

Because the swim was canceled, the sprint would do a 1 mile run, 12 mile bike and 5 k run. Unfortunately, we didn't start til 8:30am. I got to chat with friends (Melissa, Beth, Amie, Janet, Brandon, Paul, Julia, Nancy and others) and hug JenC before it all began! Then I sat on the ground and stretched and cheered for everyone as they left.

Everyone looked great on his/her way out! Janet, as always looked strong and ready to tackle the bike and JenC's new ride is waaaaay hotter in person!

Jack ran into some trouble with his cleats which delayed his bike for some time. Finally, he got things under control and was off. He still did a great job in spite of the snafu!

At 8:15am they called everyone over to begin the run!