Mrs Welshrunner goes Olympic

I hate triathlons. I think it's because they take up so much time - you have to get there the day before to rack your bike, there's all the hassle of transition and you have to get up super early the morning of (not to mention the start of the swim that brings to mind middle-aged housewives at the January sales). Add all this together and I have no desire at all to do one. Mrs Welshrunner, however, loves them, and she did her first Olympic distance triathlon this morning. Her dad had come down for the weekend, so he babysat Gavin while we got up and out the door by 5am. I was on "crew" duty, so I took a camping chair which I happily sat in while Nancy went into the transition zone (which was guarded closer than Fort Knox). She was gone for a while and I found myself nodding off and eventually fell asleep. I must have been snoozing away for about 10 minutes before she came back and woke me up.

Her swim wave was due to get going around 7:30am, so we moved over to the edge of Town Lake. I gave her a good luck kiss, saw her off and moved myself and the chair over to the swim exit. I enjoyed myself people watching for a while and got chatting to a guy who set up his chair next to mine.

Once she finished the swim, I uprooted myself and headed over to Congress where I set up camp again on the bike route. She was going to do three loops of the bike course, so when she came past the second time round I took the chair back to the car and waited for her to come round again before heading back to the transition area.

Finally all that was left was the run. Nancy was looking good and seemed to have relaxed into a rhythm. The course was laid out in such a way that I could pace her in many places, cut off and pick her up again further down the track. I did this for a while and at one point I got talking to one of the policemen while I waited at an out-and-back. He was a nice guy and we chatted about the busy weekend, with the UT football game, the Human Race, the Austin Triathlon, Batfest and a surprise visit by President Bush. We both gave Nancy a good cheer when she got back. I set off with her again and ran most of the rest of the way with her before peeling off just before the finish line. She smashed her goal time by a good 13 minutes and I was super proud of her.

Then this afternoon I took advantage of Austin's Free Day of Yoga and went to a "Hot Yoga" class at Yogagroove on Great Northern. This is a style of yoga taught in a 105F room which concentrates on 26 positions and 2 breathing exercises. It encourages muscle flexibility and helps detoxify the body through sweating. I've been having issues for a while with stiff and sore muscles due to running (and my general lack of stretching - bad me) and I certainly feel a lot more relaxed right now. The class was a lot of fun - it was 90 minutes long and I got a really good workout (and a really good detox if the amount of sweat that poured off me is anything to go by). They have a good deal for new people with a 30 day unlimited yoga pass for $28. I may just try it out.

Now that I'm detoxified, I'm off to make some quesadillas for supper. Hey, it's not all bad - I'm using spinach tortillas!!!