In which I am a Pirate Tri cheereader. ARGGGGH!

I believe "AAARRRGHHH!" Is the only correct thing to say if you have been spectating the Pirate Tri. Seriously dudes, it's all about the Pirates. There were a bunch of 'em. And some wenches. AND damn ship and a cannon. IT WAS LEGIT.

And we all know I love pirates. I named a cat Pirate Ship one time for heavens sake...

I was excited to be a superstar cheerleader for a change because I have been slacking on the Sherpa duties lately. This was also a killer race to spectate because a TON of my friends were there, basically ALL of the TSA Triathletes, My own BADASS coach (who won her age group. yeah, those are the fun facts that she "forgets" to mention on her FB page. If I finish a race I brag. The woman WINS shit and nary a mention. GAH!)

And Eric, obviously was there to PR or ER.

 

 

I can never find specific people when they are all dressed like neoprene penguins.
(I can find Eric. Sometimes.)
Until wetsuits are more flattering I refuse to learn to swim.
Yes, that is my excuse of the day.

It was a perfect day for a race, with temps in the 60's, beautiful sunshine and a light breeze.

After the treacherous conditions at Quassy you had better believe I was envious...

 

By the way, nothing about the swim here encouraged me to get on that shit and learn how to do it. When the women in my age group took off it was total chaos- a teeming, surging, flailing (and kicking) mess of bodies, chaos and blood (well, there probably wasn't blood. but in my imagination there was.) Evidently it did not subside and word on the street was that it was a challenge. Since I am challenged to swim in a kiddie pool, solo, with a noodle I still maintain that I am going to pass on any swimming events.

 

Eric had a good swim, and came in right in the time he had hoped for- give or take a couple of seconds. It was impossible for me to find any more of my friends as there is no differentiation between wetsuited bodies.

Eric sped off on the bike, wheeeeee!!!!

The bike at a sprint tri hardly takes any time but I still had a little time to watch a bunch of my peeps head out on their bikes. I also saw a few unfortunate and bloody tumbles onto the pavement. This time I am not lying about the blood. It was there!

I found friends. Exchanged the usual training war stories.

After almost exactly 45 minutes Eric zipped by on the bike, FLEW thru transition and was OFF! 

There he goes after a 37 second transition! Hold crap!

I watched a few of my friends, Kelsey, Eric's coach Denise and about a bazillion TSA people head out on the run and then I decided to try to find the finish before Eric got there. It was a good thing I moseyed on off when I did, because it was a bit farther away than I had anticipated.

He finished the run in 22:45. FAST
Total time was 1:19:36 for 11th in his AG. SO CLOSE to top 10!
But a NINE minute PR, Hello!!!

Obviously we had to take an annoyingly cute selfie..

We watched ALL our friends finish (and finish strong!) We took selfies (obvs), ate some snacks, high fived the TSA peeps on some legit top placing's, then headed to Katherine's camp mansion for waffles and beer.

Well. I had to run 8 miles THEN I had my damn beer and waffle brunch.

 

So do I have Triathlon race envy? Absolutely. UNTIL I look at the "short, tiny, easy" swim and realize it is about 99% farther than anything I'm comfortable with. So for the time being, landsports it is...