Cocktails & Cupcakes . . .

That is what I am renaming the Santa Barbara Triathlon. I know it doesn't convey the sense of a triathlon with the name "Cocktails & Cupcakes"(C&C), but it might attract more people???

Well, in my head (scary place to be), that is what I call it!

Yesterday was the C&C Triathlon, which I did for the first time in 2008.

Back then it was called the S.B. Triathlon. Well I am happy to announce that this year I managed to shave approximately 10-11 minutes off my time from 2 yrs. ago!!! It would have been more, if not for the yucky swim conditions & the resulting ultra-long T1 time.

It was a foggy morning, air temp in the upper 50s. There were three of us there to race: me, Vit. & H.R. Pufnstuf. And, we had the wonderful spousal support of my hubby & Lola . . . and a new "jock strap", The Queen! She was über-excited to be there to see the throngs of people who thought it was fun to get up at the crack o'stupid, swim in cold water for a mile, ride hills for 34 miles & then run 10 miles!

I think she was excited to NOT be doing it. Please note that The Queen has done a few sprint tri's & is still a newbie. We are working on her . . . Mwahahahahaha!

Vit started his wave at 7:15. Between that time & my wave - 7:45 - the wind picked up & it was nasty cold. When it was my turn in the water, I was really more concerned with being so cold out of the swim that I would not be able to function. I should have been more concerned with the choppy, nasty, ucky waves that were slapping me in the face for the entire swim!! O.K., I am slightly dramatic . . . it was really only 2/3 to 3/4 of the swim! Seriously, it was a difficult swim & definitely was more demanding of my energy. I was 6 mins. slower on the swim. And it wasn't just me: everyone of my peeps - Vit, H.R. and me - was slower!

When I got out of the water, I felt beat up . . . not really tired, but like, "Who the hell pissed off the ocean god" - Oceanus is his name . . . I think - "& made that swim a churning stew of hell?"

I got over that & made it to T1 . . . where I was FREEZING my ass off. I had a lovely time wrestling with my arm warmers and socks to get them on my body. My hands were little icicles. I actually had a really fun time with Lola & The Queen looking on & taking a ton of pictures of every facial expression imaginable. I kept thinking that my time in transition must be bordering on "way too friggin' long." As it turns out, it was!! Like 5 mins. or so. Hilarious! I love that.

The bike was as wonderful a roller coaster of ups & downs as I remember from last time. I did take extra care on the downhills & rode strong in the saddle on the ups. I managed to shave off 2 mins. from before. Not as much as I'd hoped for, but I felt strong. And, that is really all I can ask for. Well, I would like some diamond solitaire earrings!!

Off the bike onto my favorite part - the run. My T2 time was about the same, no biggie.

The special thing on the run for me . . . a first of firsts . . . I ran - RAN - all my miles!

I have never, ever, ever done that. Never ran 10 miles. Never ran 6 miles. Never really ran consecutive miles without walking some of them. Never. Ever.

And, I felt mostly pretty good.

I was quite thrilled to see Vit early on in the run, which meant he was hauling ass. He was having a great day & I was happy to see that he was almost done!

Son of a bitch!


I mean - I love that guy!!!!!!

H.R. was a bit further back, but he looked happy & strong.

All in all, I took 15 mins. off my running time from 2008. w00t w000t!

Now if we can get back the extra-long time from the swim & T1 . . .

My final time has not been posted, but I know I was somewhere around 4:43-and-change-ish.

Happy to be done with all this mishigas - it was time for . . . say it with me . . .

COCKTAILS & CUPCAKES!!!





That's right. On to lunch with everyone & then dessert, baby.

For now, I am resting after a 500-yd. swim this morning & a rest day tomorrow - then back to the Ironman training. I believe we have 12 weeks to go!! I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

So for now, keep on keeping on . . . wear your helmets when you ride & remember to always laugh at your friends in front of their face! Not in a mean way, but in a "life is too short, let's have some G-D fun!!" way.

Much Peace & Love,
TracerX