Wheeeee!!!!!

Todays workout:
Swim-90 minutes (2.4 miles)
Ride-73 minutes (18 miles)

I got to the pool a little earlier than normal today. Around 6:30. The pool was empty. The sauna, hot tub, and steam room were all empty. I looked at my watch to make sure it was Wednesday. (Not that that would have mattered, the gym is open 24/7....) Yup, it was Wednesday. Hmmm. So I started my swim. No waves, nice and quiet and peaceful. 6:55, still no peeps. I thought, "The 7 am peeps will surely be here in a few minutes." 7:05, nothing. 7:10, nothing. I was beginning to think that I had missed a sign on the pool door that said,

"Pool closed today due to 

extremely high and very dangerous

chemical content."

I didn't feel itchy, and my skin wasn't turning weird colors, so I decided to stick with it. 

Slowly a few people came in to use the sauna and steam room. And someone even got in the hot tub. It wasn't until around 7:20 that someone else got in the pool. They only swam for about ten minutes. I wondered if his skin started burning. He seemed ok though. Then the Wednesday Morning Pool Maintenance Guy showed up. (He was running late today.) I figured he would surely have told me to get out if there was any danger. Nope, no extra chemicals, no dangerous water, just my over active imagination. And mid-term week at UT. And the day after Mardi Gras. I figured all the usual peeps were either studying for their midterms and/or recovering from last night's festivities. 

In any case, it was a very peaceful swim. Not good practice for the craziness that will be the swim of the race. I emailed the Athlete Services Coordinator for the Texas Ironman today to ask about the swim start so I can start to mentally prepare. He confirmed that it is going to be a mass start. Meaning that there will be hundreds upon hundreds of people all running into the water at the same time. Don't know yet if it'll be a beach start or a water start. In either case, I'll be hanging back to let the real swimmers go first. I'll pick up the rear of the pack with the other doggie paddlers. 

My neck is really sore today. I think it's a combination of the aero bars form last night and the swim from today. Both the aeros and the swimming put my neck in the exact same position and I think it's just tight. I've been stretching it all day. I'm sure it'll feel better manana. 

Tonight Wayne is out of town and Kristi couldn't ride because she had to work on her taxes and Bonnie had a headache from her goggles so I headed out alone. (I told Bonnie about the cool Aquasphere goggles that K and W discovered a few months ago. They should help with her goggle headaches. They are great goggles.)

The ride was great! It was super windy heading north. I don't know what the gusts were, but I would be going 16 mph and then a gust would hit me and slow me right down to 11 or 12 mph! But it was totally worth it, because when I turned around to head back into town, I didn't even have to pedal and I was going 18 mph! Wheeeeee!!!!!!! The wind was so strong that I went so fast down Bull Creek that I actually made the green light at Jefferson and 38th! We barely ever make that light! It was perfect weather, I had to stop at Far West to put on my arm warmers, but other than that I was fine in shorts and a short sleeved shirt. It sure got chilly once the sun started to set. My endorphins were kicking by the time I got back. I think it was a combo of the cool weather, the bright sunshine, and the fun ride back into town with the wind at my back! 

All in all a good workout day. And now I'm just waiting for the perfect end to a fun day. Courtesy of Tiffany. 

You may know her better as Tiff. 

Tiff's Treats that is. Heehee!

M :)