The call of the wild, capped off with a sprint

The following ode to summer was meant to be accompanied by pictures, which for goodness only knows what reason are being sent out to cyber space by blogger. Entertainment for the 4th ring of hell no doubt. Oh, wait, it's working now


Bug spray
pine needles
campfire
toasted s'mores
tents
sleeping bags
"think of that mom, two whole days with no computer or television-how wonderful?" (yes those words were uttered by the 8 year old)
walkie talkies
lake swims
sunset on the beach
summer solstice
the glow of the nuclear power plant that was the common wash house (how foolish of me to think they might actually turn out some of the lights at night) but at least it was a short walk at midnight, and 1 and 2 and...note to self, no more pop after 7:00.
fire grilled steak and corn
cold beer
salmon and foccocia
"mom shouldn't we put some of this food away before we go to bed?"
tired Trimama shoving the most obvious into a bag and into the car
air mattresses
sleeping bags
stars and constellations
rattle, rattle, growl, growl, rattle, furious growl
what the he%# is that?
giant raccoons
babies in tow,
ravishing the picnic table,
angry they can't open the morning's doughnut containers.
tent unzipping
alert sounding,
back to their post in the woods were they had been monitoring the situation all evening
even more tired Trimama shoving more food into the car-surely they have moved on to the next camp site
rattle, rattle, growl, growl
dam the Mississippi
grab water bottle, unzip tent, tri- like sprint out to picnic table
bean smallest coon in head as he makes his way into woods coon screams and wimpers
collect every remenant of food and throw into embers or into car
coons return, angry as hell, and stand growling outside of tents
images of kilo rounds of orange paint balls flit through Trimama's head,
must be the raccoon....
Swinging Girl and Hyphen Girl under siege by mad, hungry coons
the call of nature verses the fear of coons
call of nature wins, off to nuclear power plant they go
coons have moved on in fit of spit and menace
sleep eludes
morning comes early, way too early
campfire warmth
coffee with grounds
remains for breakfast
breaking of camp
"can we do this again mom?"

Definitely

Sunday dawns
4:30 am
load bikes
fill bottles
check for rain-it's going to be wet
pick up training partner
thank god for Starbucks that opens at 5:30 am drive south
pass the Jolly Green Giant
Check in
Body marking
give up on dry, aim for warm up
chat with transition neighbors
I love tri mornings
rack bike
lay out transition
no point to socks, short distance and rain making them obsolete
squeeze into wet suit
warm up in rock quarry
water warm-rain falling
call to start
tri swimming is a contact sport
400 yards of water polo
yield no line
sprint to shore
26th out of 84 in wave
strip wet suit
run to bike
feeling good
1 mile climb out of valley
Zigie Zagie Zigie Zagie, oi, oi, oi (I figure the hills of Zurich can't be this bad)
up hill, into wind, avs for fastest would top out at 21 mph
turn around
fly
downhill, wind at back
46 minutes good enough for 25th
catch nephew on Trihubby's knobby tired mountain bike
time to run
through the woods
onto streets
I am so not a sprinter any longer
why am I doing this
wait, I like to run
hold pace
pass on water stops
think track work outs
33:45 for 4 miles
8th out of 22 for age group
23 out of 84 women
96th out of 204 overall

72 overall on swim-what the ???????????

Not bad for an iron mom in training :)
Yes the rain was so dense it fogged the camera-so my spectacular finish looks like a dream-which it just might have been

sleep is good





Fianlly,
my entry for the

ugliest foot contest