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July 23, 2005
On top of the world…or the bottom…
At this moment I am beat. It has been a long day of being on the go to get to where I am right now-in my hotel room, trying to relax, waiting for my brother and his girlfriend, both 22, to come meet me for dinner. They should be here in about an hour.
The day started out eventfully. I planned to wake up at 7:30. However, when I got up at 6 to use the bathroom I discovered our house had no water. A quick search of the web showed the water company was performing emergency maintenance in our area and the water should be on by 10 AM. Unfortunately, I had to be in a dress at a hotel meeting at 10 AM. I needed to shower and shave. I decided I would wait an hour or so to see if the water fixed itself, but I really couldn’t go back to sleep in case I needed extra time to go somewhere else to shower. I weighed my options in my head: the gym was free but the pool was further from my house and had a greater chance of not being affected by the water issues. I used the time to put my bike on my car and mentally go over my packing list. I was e-mailing a professor when I heard the toilet start to fill at 8 AM and I immediately hopped in the shower. The water was still a bit cloudy so I let it run for a few minutes but then I was probably the first person in the neighborhood to shower with the fixed water system. Who knows what bacteria I exposed myself to :) I was grossed out enough, however, that I did brush my teeth with leftover water from my nalgene water bottle. I washed the bike grease off my legs and then put on my dress. At THIS moment I felt like “I had my shit together.” I mean, I was this soon-to-be triathlete dealing with my bike and everything and now I was all dressed up about to go to a meeting. When you are 24 (and maybe older?) the moments in which you are completely happy with yourself are few and far between. So much of my life is up in the air, I move all the time, sometimes I'm bored, and when I am actually making money I have a bunch of entry-level jobs and internships. But for one moment I seriously felt like I had a sense of who I was and was proud of everything I was doing today.
When I got to the hotel meeting I brought in all the items I didn’t want to leave in the heat in my car (laptop, bathing suit for the tri, and my backup bathing suit) as well as the clothes I was going to change out of after the meeting. I checked them at the concierge. After the meeting I changed and hit the road again.
There was traffic. I drove for three hours. I picked up my packet and got a lesson as to where all of the numbers go (helmet, bike, and on the front of me somewhere for running). I get my chip (which goes on my ankle with a medical bracelet) tomorrow morning. Then I went to the hotel and checked in. Next up was a visit to the race course. THIS is where the oh my god, I am the opposite of on top of the world started to kick in. It is HOT here. Really hot. Every where I look people have special Tri bikes (not sure if I mentioned but I have a hybrid). These people look serious. They are all wearing triathlon race t-shirts. AND, the swim is indoors and the transition is a short walk away-over rocks and sand. Am I supposed to do that barefoot??? I found where my bike is supposed to be racked and it looks all right to me. I am obsessed with the fact that someone might steal my stuff from the transition area. My sunglasses are expensive and what if someone takes my sneakers with my orthotics inside??? The women who taught my tri class said no ones stuff ever goes missing but I heard of someone getting to the end of a tri and finding his sneakers there (someone else wore them by accident). (I have no idea how the guy without sneakers finished.) Will these things happen to me??? PLUS, I have NO IDEA how long it will take me to bike 12 miles. No idea.
Then I went to the store and bought yogurt and a banana (I brought ˝ a bagel from home) for breakfast. I didn’t think the first two items would survive the trip in the heat. I completely see one reason people can’t race every weekend-it’s tiring getting ready!! Triathloning is a high-maintenance sport. You need to keep track of so much stuff and the logistics are intense.
I took an artsy picture of my bike, helmet, bathing suit, and foot with a running sneaker. All of my numbers are on the everything. How symbolic, right? :) I am glad I have company coming so I don’t drive myself crazy.
Posted by Audrey at July 23, 2005 05:06 PM
Comments
I've been meaning to tell you all week good luck!
so good luck!
Posted by: jenandmats at July 23, 2005 06:16 PM