Vaay - Kaay- Shun!

Ahhhhh --

I'm in the middle of a very relaxing week of vacation which I'm spending in the exotic location of "my home".

Hubby and Fireball (stepson) left for their Game Convention last Tuesday. We all got up at about 4:00 am -- they packed up, I made coffee and waved a cheerful goodbye as they drove off to Columbus OH at about 5:15 am. I went back to bed. Ahhhhhh.

The rest of my lazy days have included getting rid of some clutter around the house (Ahhhhhh), get-togethers with some girlfriends, golfing my first "long" course, hanging around the lake, a bit of bike riding, a swim lesson where I performed TERRIBLY and an equally tough "long swim" of 1600 yards last night. (Who the heck knows why some workouts are so much better than others...). It has been wonderful.

I've been trying to take notice of all the wonderful aspects of this time off -- calm days, lazy mornings spent outside watching birds, bunnies and butterflies in the backyard with Gorby (our 15 year old cat); people watching down at Lake Harriet; sunsets; summer smells of flowers or BBQs or rain. I get so caught up in "Every Day" that every day moments get lost. I'm going to work harder on noticing more.

Tomorrow is the MinneMan Tri -- 0.3 swim; 13 mile bike; 3 mile run. I am feeling "ready" and nervous at the same time. The distance doesn't so much cause me worry -- just general angst.

I have to get my stuff ready to take: pan to wash the sand off my feet after the swim; socks; racebelt; shoes; goggles; cap(s); trisuit; wet suit; hat; sunscreen; Powerade, gels and Clff Shot Blocks; race numbers; stuff to wear after the race, blah, blah, blah.

I'm glad I am doing the event tomorrow. It should help give me a feel for how I might work LifeTime, which is about two weeks away.

I'm hoping that all the swim lessons and workouts will positively impact my swim experience and time ("tick-tock" time, not "joy of the event' time). I'm not so concerned about the bike or run, but...I've learned from participating in other events that one should never take any thing for granted.

The weather is predicted to be warm with the possibility of some thundershowers. Those could put an end to the swim adventure in a hurry.

In the meantime, I'm going to just enjoy today -- put my feet up -- possibly take a quick bike ride with a couple of other tri/running friends, maybe play a quick round of par-3 golf with some golf friends -- carbo-load and get some sleep.

Ahhhhh......