I did a local Triathlon today- 3/4 mile swim, 19 mile mtn bike, 7 mile trail run and ended up winning, not on purpose, but these things just happen sometimes. My leg rankings were 8th in the swim, 1st in the bike by about 6 minutes and 3rd in the run. Maybe I should try this mountain biking thing.

Me to Brian during breakfast at 6:15, it's a 35 min drive to the venue: "so when I said I wanted to get there at 7:30, I somehow thought that was an hour and a half before our race, not half an hour."

Bryan Fish to me, on the starting beach: "what distances are the legs?"

me throughout the entire bike leg: "oh-no, oh-no, eek!"

Announcer to me, post race: "I've never heard of you before, who are you, where did you come from?"
(what's a good response to that, I couldn't come up with one.)

The woman who got second is really well known athlete in the midwest, role model, really involved with the sports community. In the course of talking with another racer at the dinner/awards saturday night he expressed surprise that I had beaten her and then: "Jan's actually a nordic skier."
me: "oh, yeah, I'll probably get to race her again this winter then."
other athlete: "I mean she's REALLY good, seventh in the birkie."
The birkie is a big deal around here, I'm starting to feel like I'm hardly a ski racer since I haven't raced the birkie.

It was a really well organized race- good volunteers, good trail markings, good food & free beer at dinner. The entry fee was a little steep, $70, and the lake water was murky, but those are my only complaints.