Swimmer Chick is #31

I was number 41 (out of 41 competitors in my race) last September at the World Champs in Gamagori, Japan….now I’m back in Japan and I’ve moved up to 31 (although this time there are only 33 competitors)!
We just got back to the hotel after a beautiful dinner party hosted by the Mayor of Ishigaki. Great food for all the athletes and race sponsors (as long as it’s free, it’s always good food:)…traditional dances and music performed by the local high school kids…and a chance to mingle with the other racers.
Before the fun dinner, I was at the mandatory pre-race meeting. We got our race numbers, a goodie bag with the race t-shirt, listened to a presentation about all the important things and times on race day. It was at the host hotel which is just a 5 minute walk from the Sleep Inn where Jenna and I are camped out for the weekend. A lot of the American athletes are in this hotel…Joe and Mark (two guys I train with at the OTC) are in the room next door, Dave Kuendig (an old teammate from Daytona Beach Swim team) is a few floors above…and a few others.
Last night I went out to dinner with Jenna, Joe, Stuart (from England), and Annabelle (#1 ranked woman from Australia). We walked down the street to a curry restaurant…we all ordered the same thing because there was no English or picture menu. The table next to us was girls from Canada and they had just finished eating when we arrived. They suggested that we just get the same thing they ordered…chicken or beef curry…because that was all the waiter understood. Anyways…the point of this story is not about the dinner (I just wrote about it because it was kinda funny and describes a typical attempt at ordering food when you are in Japan).
As we are sitting there waiting for our curry to arrive, we are chatting with the Canadian girls. They all know Joe and Annabelle and Stuart so it’s just a big conversation. Suddenly, I hear one of the Canadian girls ask Annabelle, “Have you heard about that swimmer chick that’s here?” I can resist looking over and just smiling and giving a lazy wave as Annabelle explains that I am that “swimmer chick”.
I just knew it!!…in my mind I predicted that exact moment would happen, I just didn’t really think it would actually HAPPEN! But, it was a really funny moment at the tables. The girl apologized but I told her she didn’t have to because that’s how I think of myself in the presence of all the “runner chicks”!
So today, this swimmer chick, did a nice little workout in the local pool. We rode our bikes there around 9am…after a relaxing sleep in and breakfast buffet. I hung out in the room for the mid part of the day. I checked e-mails and spent a few minutes hurting my brain with homework. Then, around 2:30 in the afternoon, when the clouds were looking very menacing, Jenna and I went out for a bike ride…we did one loop of the course and then did some efforts on a deserted road. I would love to ride the course at full speed before the race but it is impossible because it runs right through the middle of the town and the roads have lots of traffic and there are 20 stoplights on the course. It’s pretty technical…lots of 90 degree turns on narrow lanes (some at the bottom of long descents so we will be at top speed) and one 180 degree turn on each lap after going over the bridge. We climb the bridge, descend the other side, turn 180, and then do the whole bridge again…every lap for 6 LAPS! The run course goes up, over, down, 180, up over and down the bridge on the first lap only. On the 2nd and 3rd laps, we only go to the top of the bridge, 180, and back down.
Tomorrow we get 45 minutes to swim on the course…from 3-3:45pm (so you’ll know exactly where I’ll be at that time of the day)! As for this moment in time…I’m going to sleep! Later Gators!