Collegiate Triathlon Nationals has officially turned into an adventure race. It’s been raining here since we arrived with no sign of stopping until after the race is finished. There are flash flood warnings and temperatures around 55 degrees. Definitely not ideal conditions for a triathlon!
I’m trying hard to stay positive for this race but it’s hard to get psyched up for what will surely be one of the most miserable 2 1/2 to 3 hours of my triathlon career thus far (ever?). On that note, it’s probably a good idea for me to make a public apology to the friends and family I’ve yelled at for trying to cheer me up about tomorrow’s race. So much for staying positive….yikes.
We checked out the course today but left the bikes in the car due to 30 mph winds and torrential rain. We did get some swimming in and one positive is that the swim temp is about 10 degrees warmer than last year!
Swim course preview:
This weekend has confirmed my thoughts that you have to be a little nutty to be a triathlete. We saw people on bikes, people out running in just shorts, people running in wetsuits…it was definitely a circus!
We also made friends with some other teams, including these guys from Waco, TX:
The bike course had almost as much water on it as the swim. KHess got out of the car and checked out the situation:
We learned that if the water doesn’t recede by tomorrow, there will be mandatory dismounts and remounts on the bike course where there is standing water! It’s definitely going to be hard to find a rhythm if that’s the case.
We wrapped up the day with a team pasta dinner put on by USAT and some last minute tweaks of our bikes.
The captions for the above photo are endless:
Kelley Hess sizing up the competition
Kelley Hess getting in the zone
Kelley Hess – constipated
Kelley Hess – insert your quote here
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