Who Dat's, oh Canada and spicy food.

Before I knew it, transition was here once again and I found my bike spot without getting lost. Trust me, I have made that mistake more than once and hopefully never again. The last time I did it it cost me a podium finish. I started to head off onto the run and realized I forgot my Garmin on my bike. I quickly turned back and snagged it. I really like to know my progress during the run. Most people I talk to need a mile or so to get their legs under them and used to running. I seem to be the opposite and have no problems, whatsoever, running right off the bike. I have to concentrate to really slow it down cause I feel so good. I opened with a 6:50 mile - dang it! I knew I had gone out too quick, but I felt fine and my heart rate was in check - 165. I followed that mile up with a handful of 7:10’s. Still feeling good and in control. I just tried to get into a rhythm and finish strong. The crowds were great along the streets of New Orleans. My favorite comment was “WHO DAT - YOU THAT!” I though, "Hell yes! Thank you!" as if she was speaking directly to me. As I reached the 6 mile mark I looked down and noted the time of 44 min flat. Over the next 3 miles my time started to slip and the legs started to get heavy. I started to walk every aid station taking in Coke and water. The cold sponges were a welcome treat and I took two to put under my shoulder straps to keep my core temp down between aid station located at every mile. At mile 10 I heard a “GO CANADA” as I wear my Canadian running hat and sport the arm tattoo. this lifted my spirits if only for a moment.

By mile 11 the legs had abandoned me and it took all of my little brain to get my legs to hold an 8:30 mile and not stop to a walk. I finished strong and smiled as I ran the shoot. Tri and Give a Dam race number two in the books!

The after party was awesome! They had a live band that played a very creative variety of fun music. The atmosphere was great and all the finishers and spectators were having a great time. I headed straight to the massage tent and put my name on the list and then headed to the food tent, as I knew there would be a wait. The food at the finish was catered and tasty. They had sandwich wraps (a little spicy), rice with a bean sauce and my favorite was cheese grits! These things were an authentic and very tasty treat. I filled my plate and went over to massage tent to wait for my name to be called. My time came and oh... was it worth the wait! IF you fortunate enough to get in, which I was, you were treated to a 30 min. massage by two therapists. I scored two local black women who were incredible! One worked my legs and the other work on my arms, back and next. They were super nice and we chatted the whole time. When it was over I told them that they were chocolate heaven. We all had a great laugh!

With a satisfied belly and feeling fairly loose I located the buses that took us back to transition so we could gather our bikes and gear. Jan was conveniently just leaving work and was able to come pick me up to take me back to the house to get cleaned up. Every time I needed a ride, the timing was amazing. I need to try to duplicate that every race- I’ll start sending that out there now. The evening concluded with me going for a few mile walk to find a place to eat and snag a red box movie. After a well deserved burger and fries, I retired for the evening to a Matt Damon movie called The Informant that was just ok. I threw on some more MyoMed and covered up with my recovery skins. Who knows if these compression pants really work, but I need all the recovery help I need get with another 70.3 event next weekend.

Woke up and quickly packed up my bike. I was so frustrated with the bike fee on the flight here I decided I would look into shipping costs with FED EX. Did some quick research and found that I could ship my bike to the hotel I was staying at in Galveston, TX next weekend. I located a FED EX on the way to the New Orleans airport and for a cool $95 bones, I shipped my bike. Just saved myself $300 smackers - booyaa! Hope it is there waiting for me when I get there! I figure I won’t be riding it this week as I will only be doing a light mid week spin which can be done on my spin bike or my road bike.