Meek and Mighty

Sorry but these are random thoughts and my spelling and grammar sucks. Don’t think less of me.

We woke up Friday morning and headed out the door about 4:30am for the long trip to down to the race. About 30 minutes in to the trip I realized that I forgot the tickets I need to get in to some of the TNT parties. So, it’s now 5:30am and we are on our way. Nothing like adding an hour to a long car trip to get things moving in the right direction. I was hoping that my wife, Stacie and son, Sammy would sleep most of the way to St. Petersburg so that we could make some good time. I soon realized that this was not going to happen. We were about 2-3 hours down the road when everyone got hungry so we STOPED and ate. Growing up we never stopped on a trip unless it was to get gas so this got me all goofed up. We had a few more stops along the way but we finally pulled in to the hotel at about 2PM.

This hotel was nice and right in the middle of everything. We could and did walk to all events and the expo was right out the front door. We got unpacked and walked over to get all checked in with the event. Back to the hotel for a short nap and then liner (not lunch, not diner). Later Sammy and I went over his checklist for his race on Saturday. The room never seemed to be the right temperature for my wife so I was up and down a few times during the night. No problem because it’s not like I have to have my son over to body making and transition setup at 6am! My internal clock has been great for the past couple of years and I woke up right before the alarm went off. I then stood and waited for the wake up call to come so that my wife did not have to get up.

Sammy and I got down and setup and I realized that I screwed the boy. I TOLD him that he could wear his running shoes down to transition and then realized that he had nothing to wear back to the hotel after we set up. His mother had to take him back. Sorry Stacie! After he got setup I had to meet the Georgia TNT team at 7 for an open water swim. The water temperature was great and it was very clear. I could see the bottom the entire swim. We only swam out a few buoys and back and then did a practice start and swam a few more buoys. It was nice how clear the water was but it was a lot choppier then expected.

After the swim I had to run back to the room, drop off my wetsuit and then get over to see my son start the swim. I ran about a mile total in no shocks and old running shoes and got the only blisters of the weekend.

The Meek and Mighty was very cool. The 15+ group was finishing the swim when I arrived and I got to see wish Sammy good luck before he took off with the 13 year olds. He turns 13 on December 17th so he gets screwed in triathlon but what are you going to do.
I sat next to a lady complaining about it the day before and had her daughter in tears because she would have to compete in the older group. Sorry to go off here but it made me mad. The mom told the girl that she did not have to race and some other crap that will just have this girl falling short for the rest off her life. When the mom got up to go complain to some race official I spoke to the girl and told her that she could indeed make the distance and that it was all about finishing, putting in the effort and not to worry. She was only running another ½ mile and she had put in the training. Come on parents; push your kids to try a little harder.

Sorry. Back to the race. Sammy had a good swim. He looks real sleek in the water and is a better swimmer then me. He had a good bike and run and finished strong. I don’t know who was grinning bigger, me or him. I love that boy!

Now that his race was over I felt a lot more relaxed. I realized that most of the pressure I felt about this whole weekend had nothing to do with the race on Sunday.