Things were a little unclear about this one. Elizabeth wanted to go and cheer Jeremy on but Jessie didn't want to go. It wasn't that she didn't want to wake up early or anything like that. She just didn't want to go. If they would have gone, I would have picked up Adele but instead Adele picked us up again.
Participants: Adele and Heidi were doing a female relay. Jeremy, Jeff and I were all doing the individual.
Elizabeth asked me to send her directions just in case... Didn't really expect her but gave what she asked for.
We got there and it was chilly. I think it was 56 degrees and I "assumed" that the water temperature would be the same as the day before in the 70's.
Jeremy and I walked to the indoor plumbing foregoing the long 3 port-a-potties line. Afterwards we walked by the water and someone told us the water was 64 degrees. Oi. By the way, the air temperature may have been 56 but when the wind hit or the sun hid behind some clouds and it was cold...
Ran into Rich Barkan. Nice guy. Told him he needs to get new tri shorts. He asked if "his junk was showing" and I told him that "no but his crack was showing clearly".
Major note: Transition area is organized in rows and depends on your number you are in a certain row. Still, within that, you can choose your spot. Jeremy and I quickly snatched up 2 spots near swim enter. Don't want to run barefoot too long...
Before long we line up at the water. Little confusion in the beginning as to which direction we were going. Glad they straightened it out since otherwise we would be swimming for a long distance against the current.
Ok....Here we go. Jeremy, Jeff and I are in the first wave. We don't have wetsuits. I offered Jeremy mine but he didn't want it. I decided not to use one since he's not using one. Adele is in wave 2. We start. Everyone positioned themself to go deep right away. Not me. Doesn't make sense. I positioned myself in the shallows. The horn goes off and everyone starts running and then swimming. Not me. I start running parallel to shore in the water getting deeper slowly. Eventually, I swim but I ran for a while. Ha...
Get to the first swim buoy and make a U-turn to head with the current toward the finish line. I am amazed at how different the water tastes compared to the day before. The Hudson is fresh water I think. This is salt water. Really salty. Gotta get a sample for Jessie for science class as well. I wish could be there when they look at the hudson water and this water under the microscope.
Swimming. I see about 3 or 4 crabs on the bottom. Water was not that deep. I get to the next buoy and I make a left towards shore. Soon it's time to get up. I pass someone on the way out of the water. Lot of sand running toward transition and I pass 2 people who are walking it.
Get to transition and I am happy to see the baby pool. It's there to wash your feet and someone had a good idea and put a mat there so it won't be slippery. I run up, put my right foot into it and as I pick up my left foot to put in there, I skate with the pool. The whole pool moved with me. I managed to catch myself but it could have been ugly. Very lucky. Could have gotten seriously hurt. Into transition and I change. A guy comes out of the water and tells me to next time lose the socks. Nope. Not me. Need socks. I don't care.
I do try to save time tho and very much unlike me, instead of putting my singlet on, I take it and decide to put it on the run. Good idea, right? Well, it was so windy, it kept getting tangled. I didn't want to run Jeff-style, without a shirt, letting it all jiggle. Nope. Not me. Yet, I could not figure out the damn shirt. Suddenly I got it in and life was good.
The day before in the Hudson, I tweaked my left leg a little doing breast stroke. I was a little worried about it for today but gotta do what I gotta do. So, I ran.
I knew I would get passed but the trick is to hide and I knew that a left turn towards the beach is coming and I gotta push until then. Suddenly I see Elizabeth. She was wearing a white cotton shirt and jeans and had a camp bag. She asked me where Jeremy was and I told her swimming and that she should go over there. With that I left her and ran. Running hard as long as I can. Made the turn. Two years ago, my hat fell off here because the wind and I went back to it. This time no hat. Live and learn.
Adele told me they changed the course a little. More near beach running and no preserve running with the killer flies. Good and bad. No more killer biting flies but near the beach would mean the winds would be a factor. And they were. Heavy winds but I ran. I got passed by a kid and I asked him his age and he told me 17. I told him to slow down since Jeremy is in his age group. He laughed and I wished him luck. At the end of the beach area, we made a right turn and eventually a U-turn around a cone marking the 1 mile mark. I was at 7:02 and running well. I knew I would slow down but wasn't going to yet.
Heading back I saw Heidi and that was cool. Not to much later, I saw Jeff. I eventually also saw Jeremy and Lee and I told them that the wind would be a factor but they didn't understand or hear me.
Running near transition, I see Rich ahead of me and I resolve to try to catch him. Suddenly skinny Karen (Pompay) passes me and I try to keep up with her for some stupid futile reason. Nope. Still, because of that I didn't take a 2 mile split. Oh well. I truly wish I did...
Past transition and I am chasing Rich. As I get to him, I say "told you I don't want to stare at your butt the whole race...". We laughed and I pushed. Another woman comes flying by. Wow. I get to the 2.5 mile mark where we turn around another cone and I see the woman making her move and passing Karen. Wow...
I'm tired but I really want to "beat" Rich. I push. I see Heidi and Jeff not to far behind. I push. I finish. Nice. I get water and look back to see Jeff coming in and Heidi not to far behind. Awesome. I then see Jeremy and Elizabeth and I escort them to the 2.5 mile marker. He's running and at times walking nicely.
About 1/4 mile to go and Lee wants me to put Eye of The Tiger for him. I'm running and I can't find a song. At best I skip forward any slow song. Eventually INXS comes on and I leave it on. Lee isn't too happy with me but it is what it is. He sprints, I follow, she gets dropped.
He is chasing a guy who starts chasing a woman. Guy first, then Jeremy, then the woman. Cool.
So much food...I eat a bit of a bagel and lots of dried fruits and nuts. We grab a white and black cookie and Elizabeth, Jeff and Jeremy have ice cream bars. We took so much food home...Awesome.
I end up winning a $ 25.00 gift certificate to runners edge. Jeff and Heidi leave but leave behind his bib. Lee get a long sleeve running shirt. We all get some bungees for goggles. Nice.
I don't know if Jeremy (and Jessie) will ever realize how much of an awesome mom they have. She came down. She ran from the beach with him to transition. She entered transition and got yelled at. she ran a 5K in jeans with a camp bag. She tried to put good music for him. Oi. How many moms do that?!?
Heidi told us that she saw Jeff in transition and he was just confused. He was holding socks in his hand and couldn't figure out what to do with them. He chased her nicely and eventually caught her. She tells it that "she let him win". He tells it that if he wouldn't have passed her, then "he wouldn't hear the end of it". Who cares...They were both there and had fun. Nice.
Results: Jeff finished and beat Heidi. The Goldberg sisters got 2nd place. Jeremy and I both did well and the results are cute. Two years ago, Jeremy got 1st for age and I got 3rd. Now, he got 3rd and I got 1st. So, 1 + 3 then and now 3 and 1 now. Cute.
Just for fun note: Lee went to Krav Maga later that night with jeans again. If she can run 5K with it, why not KM? Tal looked at her and thought she was nuts. I confirmed it.