Clermont!

I'm officially a Clermont resident (for a short time this winter)! I've lucked out in everything...a great place to stay, hilly roads to ride on, huge training center right down the road...I'm in heaven!
I've been riding on my old training grounds...struggling up Hospital Hill and Sugarloaf brings back lots of memories from my teenage triathlon years! I've finally swam in the huge beautiful National Training Center pool...20 lanes to choose from...and next week I'll be joining the FAST swim team practices (they are up in Gainesville at the Holiday Classic swim meet).
Tomorrow morning I'm going over to the NTC for a strength workout and maybe another (lonely) swim practice before driving back to the East Coast. The Plan B bike shop is having a Swap Meet all day Saturday and I am going to make an 'appearance'.
After stopping by the McLarty house for a few minutes after the Swap Meet, I'll probably be back to Clermont before the day is over. On Sunday morning, Koren and I are going on a group-ride from the Waterfront Park...I'm getting mentally prepared to get my butt kicked for three hours!

Chill Out!!!

Okay people...how often do you read the first sentence of a story and assume that it contains ALL the information that you need?!? Probably never, right?
Well, then why does EVERYONE think that I have quit my job/sport/passion of triathlon just because I wrote a blog titled "I Quit"???
Come on people...you just have to read about six sentences into the post to figure out that I'm actually NOT quitting...I have finally become re-motivated to train and I've been in the pool and on my bike for over a week now!
I hope that clears up any speculation and/or rumors that are circulating about my status as a professional triathlete. I'm sure that everyone was celebrating my 'quitting' because I'm such a dominate force on the international scene (hahaha) but can't you all see that I am a VERY sarcastic writer!?!?
Now, if everyone has taken their 'chill-pill', I would like to get back to the usual content of my blog posts, which is mindless dribble about my daily life as the one-and-only: Sara McLarty:)
My week at the Ol'McLarty's Farm is over (Wednesday to Wednesday) and I'm packing up my car and heading over to Clermont. I have been in touch with Koren (she is renting her spare bedroom to me for the month) and we are looking forward to meeting in person. I googled the local swim team that trains at the National Training Center in Clermont and got their swim practice times (5:00-7:30pm).
When I get over to the NTC for the first time, I have to figure out how much it's going to cost to use the facilities for a month. Some people are telling me it's like $30 per week (which is ridiculously cheap) so I will keep my fingers crossed. Along with the pool time, I will probably want to use the gym, treadmills, weight room, and yoga classes.
I've got my laptop computer packed and the next month of my blogs will probably come from a wireless cafe, with good hot chocolate, somewhere in Clermont!

I Quit!

That is correct! I am quitting! Officially...on the record...no doubts. I actually quit a few days ago!
What did I quit? Well, to be honest, I quit quitting! For two weeks after the Cancun World Cup (where I was very disillusioned with my ability to recover from my foot injury) I gave up all aspects of my job as a professional athlete. I didn't train, I didn't talk to my coaches, I didn't watch my nutrition, I goofed off, I slept in late, I watched TV...I QUIT!
It sure took a long time, 14 days to be exact, but my motivation finally re-booted and I've gone so far as to break a sweat for the past three days!
At the end of the drive from COS to Florida, my dad and I stopped in Gainesville to watch my brother and the Gator swimming and diving team compete against FSU. I spent the night in Gainesville at Dustin's house to help him drive home and managed to work up the courage and motivation to swim 5000 meters on Wednesday morning. I went to the pool after all the Gators were done and paddled my way through a painful set of 5 x 1000s. I came to the realization that taking two weeks off isn't going to make the re-entry into exercise very easy as my arms were screaming at me after just two of the 1000s!
Back at home on Thursday (Thanksgiving) I helped with the 10 mile Turkey Trot (where, again, I was reminded what I was missing by not being able to run) but then found some motivation to get back on my bike and cruise around DeLand for 30 miles. Yep, 20 miles into the ride I thought I was going to have to get off and take a break...my legs were screaming at me this time...but I made it around the loop and home in time for the big turkey dinner.
Friday and Saturday I continued with my slow re-entry plan of training. It helped to have my brother home for the weekend because he and I went over to the pool together for morning swim practice. After 5000 yards with the team, I clipped on my foam belt and got back into the aqua-jogging mode (at least here in Florida I can actually run in the SUN).
Sunday is always a day of rest and relaxation so I am taking advantage and getting some work done. I'm helping my Mom with her traditional gift to the children living at the Methodist Children's Home. This year we are creating a personalized mug for each child and it will be filled with some packets of hot cocoa and marshmallows. Like always, I will take care of baking the 800+ cookies to fill the tins that also go to each child!

Treasure Island and IronKids (Photos)

Listening to "The Star Spangled Banner" before the start of the 2007 Treasure Island Triathlon. (yes, Dave is picking his nose:)

"And they're off!!" The duathlon started at 12 noon on Saturday...we got nothing but clouds and rain ALL day long!

The lead women on the first run...6.5K, 40K, 10K...the only race I've ever been to where I'm THANKFUL that I couldn't start!

My camera and I were getting up-close-and-personal with the racers...resulted in some cool shots like this one of Yoni and Adam.

The race was always in the hands of these four women...left to right: Julie, Jill, Groff , Haskins.

Some kids come to IronKids like this...

...and some kids come to IronKids like this!!! One of my favorite aspects of this event is that ALL kids are welcome and everyone is praised!!

The IronKids' crew packing up the last race of 2007. This photo is proof for Neil that Dave actually DOES help with the manual labor!

And we are DONE! The season of six races was another success...22nd annual year of the series...and I hope to be involved again NEXT YEAR!

AnnMarie and I in the hotel parking lot before I caught my flight back to COS!

Thanksgiving...Plan C

The McLarty Thanksgiving tradition is pretty basic and repetitive. My Aunt and Grandmother come over to our house and we give thanks before eating a lot of food. Let's call that 'Plan A' because it was what we always expected.
A few days ago, a note came in the mail from my Aunt...she invited all of us down to her place in Cocoa Beach to celebrate (and eat) Thanksgiving dinner at her house. After a little discussion and debating, we decided that it couldn't hurt to veer from our normal routine (and let someone else do the dishes at the end of the night:). So let's call that 'Plan B'.
Thanksgiving morning arrived and I continued as planned. First, I started with a 6am trip down the road to help out with the Alta Vista Sports Turkey Trot. Since I'm still not able to run (more on the 'foot' later), I just helped with the registration and the food set up before deciding that I stood around long enough and headed home.
I was the first to know something was amiss when I tried to drop off my Grandmother's newspaper on my way home. Side note: My Grandmother lives in a little pink house in the front of our property. I knocked and rang the door-bell but was unable to get a response...the whole house was dark and quiet. Since I am unfamiliar with her daily schedule, I assumed that she was just not awake yet.
We were all working in the kitchen a little later in the day when Grandma called and said that she was VERY sick (possibly the flu or maybe just food poisoning) and was going to be unable to attend Thanksgiving dinner with the family. My immediate response was to call my Aunt and suggest that she pack up her Thanksgiving feast and drive up here so that she could visit Grandma and we could be close-by if she got sicker. So that's how we got to 'Plan C'!
Everything worked out just fine...except for Grandma being sick...and we still had a fun afternoon of games and feasting at the Ol'McLarty Farm! Dustin brought out his camera for a few minutes to capture some of the edible creations before they were completely consumed (photos ASAP).

Start: COS, Monday, November 19th, 6:00am

After an early wake-up in COS, my Dad and I were in the Xterra and on the road a little after 6am. Luckily, we passed by the temporary cafeteria on the way out the door and noticed that the breakfast spread was already laid out. We helped ourselves to some cereal, milk, fruit and snacks that were easily portable and eatable on the road. (When food is free, take it when you can get it:) Instead of heading directly East, I made a detour over to The Garden of the Gods as the sun was rising to show my Dad the beautiful area. We drove around the loop and took some commemorative photos of the red rocks and blue skies to mark the start of the trip.
By noon we were somewhere in the middle of Kansas...since its all looks exactly the same, I have nothing exciting to mention. Dad and I were switching off in the drivers seat every half-tank of gas...about 2-3 hours. We would exit the interstate, gas up, go to the bathroom, grab a snack, and 10 minutes later we would be back on the road.

Unlike our drive fro FL to COS, we had a goal ETA of 5pm in Gainesville that we were trying to make...that's when Dustin's swim meet versus FSU started. We always knew exactly when we were going to arrive (and it wasn't going to be in time for the start) because Dad brought his new GPS on the trip and it calculated our average speed and computed when we were going to pull into the University.
Oh well, we needed to pee, eat, and sleep...so we just proceeded carefully and safely along the interstates and enjoyed the trip. Like I mentioned already, Kansas was boring so that's when Dad and I did a lot of talking and laughing. It was dark through Missouri so we focused on the roads and the traffic. I think we spent the night on the east side of St. Louis...we could have slept for 5 hours and almost made the swim meet, but we enjoyed a whole 6 hours of shut-eye before climbing back in and taking to the roads again.

We drove through the corners of Indiana and Kentucky on Tuesday morning before driving through the middle of Tennessee and south through Georgia. WOW...that was, by far, the most beautiful 10 hours of driving I have ever done! The trees were every shade of red, orange, yellow, browns, with the occasional green! We found the camera to snap a few photos of the beautiful countryside as we zipped along I-75 (no time to stop, just roll down the window and click the button)!
It was around mid-day on Tuesday that I got a phone call from my credit card company to verify my last five purchases. I guess they wanted to make sure that it really was ME driving across the country! Other than our expensive six hours of sleep in the Holiday Inn ($15 and hour), we were stopped for less than 90 minutes for the rest of the trip...you can thank the GPS for giving us more information than we could possibly need:).
We happily arrived at the UF Pool during the last two events of the meet...Dustin had already swam a fast 200 IM and 200 fly earlier in the evening. I reunited and chatted with a bunch of friends that I only see on special occasions (like UF meets) and then headed out to dinner with the family (Mom had driven up from DeLand) and a few of Dustin's teammates.
At 10pm, Dad was back in the Xterra...now with Mom as a passenger...and I was a passenger in Dustin's Escape. Coach Troy demands that all UF swimmers attend a ridiculously early practice on Wednesday morning before going home for the holidays...so I spent the night in Gainesville to drive Dustin home after the practice and his classes. I know how easy it is to fall asleep at the wheel on the drive from UF to DeLand and I was happy to help!
End: DeLand, Wednesday, November 21st, noon. I pulled into the Ol'McLarty's Farm and officially finished my trip...now, it's time to enjoy the Florida winter and get back to training for the 2008 Olympic Trials!

My Dad Is HERE!

I just flew back in from Phoenix. Got into COS around 6pm. The OTC shuttle picked me up right away and I got a ride back to the OTC. I had about an hour and a half to kill before my Dad's flight from Atlanta landed. Since I still wasn't finished packing...I took care of the last few things on my list (toiletries, pillows, etc) and took my bike box out to the Xterra.
The OTC dining hall is undergoing massive redecoration during the Thanksgiving week so it is completely closed. Instead of serving dinner, they are giving everyone $20 a night (for every night that you are in town) and I took my $$ downtown to Poor Richards for one last delicious meal before I drive home.
I timed my dinner perfectly so that when I finished eating and drove to the airport, my Dad's flight had just landed and he was walking out the door. I had talked up Josh & John's Ice Cream so much that we headed straight from the airport to the store. The first thing I look for whenever I walk in is "Pumpkin Pie" on their list of seasonal flavors...bummer, it wasn't on the board today!
But when I mentioned my sadness to the ice cream server...and he went over to the freezer and pulled out a secret gallon!! The perfect finish to my last day in COS for a long time! Of course, when I paid for our ice cream and handed over my Josh & John's punch card...I got the last couple of punches to fill up the card! So now I have a FULL punch card...and no chance to use if for another five or six months!
Anyways, it's VERY late for my dad (on Florida time) so we are going to get an early start on sleeping tonight so we can wake up early and get onto the road! I have decided that we will make a short detour in the morning because I really want to show my Dad the Garden of the Gods...especially as the sun is rising...before we officially depart COS!

Nothing of Importance

I'm sitting here, trying to think of something worth writing about. But when you remove yourself from your normal life (like NOT going to practice for a week, or skipping parties, or spending hours in your room packing), there really isn't anything exciting to discuss.
I can give a quick update about my foot...I saw the Doctor yesterday, he read the results from my MRI on Monday, declared that I had an inflamed plantar fascia, and offered me a cortisone shot in my foot. At this point, I will do anything if I think it will help me get back in the game (I guess "race" is a better term for my sport than "game). If you told me that walking across hot coals would help my foot get better...I'd be starting the fire!
So, I had my first cortisone shot last night...right into the arch of my foot. It was only a bit painful at the moment (just a needle stick) but 30 minutes later when the numbing agent wore off, I was in my room with my foot elevated trying not to cry! It's an interesting thing, this cortisone...I was walking PAIN FREE just two minutes after the injection. It's basically just putting anti-inflammatory drugs right at the inflamed body part...so instead of swallowing a bottle of Advil over the course of a month, this goes directly to the problem area and saves me the destruction of my liver from the pills!
Unfortunately, it isn't an immediate fix...even though I'm tempted to start walking in my sneakers again (darn this boot), I still have to let my foot rest while the drugs do their work. So what's another two weeks of not running or walking when I've already been out of commission for two months?!?!
Cliff and Sam threw a fun end-of-the-season party last night. (Pizza, beer, & cookies!) Unfortunately, I spent all evening waiting in line for the Doctor so I got to their house two hours late. I rushed to get there immediately after receiving the cortisone shot. BAD IDEA! No one told me that the numbing agent would wear off so fast and I would be in tears...so instead of being a party-downer, I just got back in my car and drove home. I could tell that I was missing out on a good times with good friends...but I got full details this morning from Jasmine and this afternoon from Sam herself!
Speaking of Sam, she just dropped me off back here at the training center. We went downtown for a hot chocolate at Poor Richard's...just a fun hour of chatting and laughing:). I'm not going to see her (and the rest of the triathlete gang) until they get down to Florida for the Clermont training camp in January! We got back to the OTC with plenty of time for me to walk up to my room, write this blog, and get ready for my HOUR long massage that starts in 10 minutes! Got to go:)~

6 Months!

That's what I keep saying to myself as I fill up bag after bag with STUFF in my room. I'm talking about packing for the estimated 6 MONTHS that I'm going to be living and training away from the OTC...so I've got to be prepared for anything and everything.
I've decided to tackle the packing with a "one-bag-per-activity" approach. So far I have a bag with all things relating to swimming...another bag for all my cycling gear...and a third with run clothes and shoes. This is in addition to my bike box that is completely full (with no bikes inside)...a entire CompuTrainer system...two bikes on the rear bike rack...etc!
The stupid part is that I have been teaching myself to be a more 'compact' packer. After all these long training/racing trips that I have taken all over the world, I have a general idea of what I need and how many of everything I need. But the compact part is usually only a factor because I'm traveling by airplane and they limit the number, size, and weight of the bags that I travel with. This time, I'm loading up my car and I can't seem to make any decisions...except to just pack everything!
You have to understand that this is my "home." Basically everything that I own is in this apartment room in the COS OTC (except for a few decorative items that remain at my parent's house in DeLand). Just take a quick look around where you live...now imagine deciding what you will need and what you will use for 6 MONTHS. It can be a little bit intimidating! Especially when I remember that I am a TRI-sport athlete and I need all parts of every activity.
Swimming isn't' just a suit and goggles...I had to go grab my equipment bag from the bin at the pool (fins, paddles, etc). And thanks to Speedo, it's not just ONE suit...I have a different suit for every day of the week (with matching sandals:).
It's easy to imagine the cycling is going to take the most space, it always does! I'm taking both my TT and Road bikes home (good thing I have a bike rack) along with a small collection of Rudy Project helmets and glasses. Cycling clothes, shoes, water bottles, energy bars, Gatorade powder, etc...it never ends!
Right now running is pretty easy...most of what I wear to aqua-jog is already packed in the swim bag. But I gosh-darn plan on getting my foot better soon so that I can RUN! So in that bag I've got warm and cold weather jogging clothes, a few pairs of new sneakers, hats, etc.
That's all I've got finished so far. Tomorrow I plan on tackling 'everyday' items...like basic clothes and toiletries. Right now I'm catching up on some emails and getting ready to go see the Doctor.
On Monday I drove over to a medical building and had an MRI on my bum foot. I was in and out really quickly...with a quick stop for the actual procedure, painless but I fell sound asleep on the table (I hope I didn't move my foot!). Tonight I should get some results from the MRI and listen to what the Doctor suggests for getting healthy!
After the depressing appointment...I have a HAPPY appointment over at Cliff and Sam's place! They are throwing a post-season, pre-holiday dinner party! Pizza, beer, and Gingerbread cookies...the party motto is: if you want healthy, you've got to bring it yourself:)

How a Race Weekend = Party Weekend

First, I will admit that I was DREADING participating in the San Francisco Treasure Island Triathlon last weekend. After I discovered how hard it was to start a race and not to finish it (like I did in Cancun at the World Cup), I wasn't too keen on getting back on the starting line six days later.
Then, I was packing my bag and bike for the race weekend and the emails started coming in regarding the San Fran. oil spill. They claimed that the race would still go on as planned. So I continued on my trip as planned...starting with a 4am wake-up call for the shuttle to the COS airport on Friday morning.
I traveled with some other local triathletes on the early non-stop flight between COS and SFO. Since I arrived a few minutes before my roommate, Jasmine, I headed over to the rental-car counter and picked up our stylish mini-van.
Thanks to the combination of my stressed-out driving skills and Jasmine's calm map-reading skills, we made it, unharmed, across the Bay Bridge to Treasure Island to check out the race course. We drove once around the incredibly sketchy bike course before heading back into SF for some breakfast and a short tour of the city.
I didn't think we would be able to check into our hotel...it was still before noon...but they had a room available so we lugged our stuff upstairs and went to work building bikes. The trusty mini-van was so roomy that we were able to fit our bikes in the back without removing any wheels!
Here is a shocking statement: The triathlon community is small and close-knit. This means that if someone has BIG news, it doesn't take long to spread to everyone...and the big news that was coming in through the cell phones and the hotel phone was that the SWIM was CANCELED! (Thanks to the stupid pilot driving the boat in the Bay, the 58,000 gallons of crude oil/gas that poured into the Bay were washing up onto beach all over the area and contaminating the water that we were going to swim in!)
The second thing I'm admitting in this post: that news made me VERY happy! (No, not because there was oil in the water...of course, that made me VERY sad!) I was happy because I could no longer even start the race on Saturday! The dread that I had been carrying completely disappeared and I finally started to enjoy my trip to SF!
The race meeting was back on the island at 5pm and all the triathletes were arriving around 3pm to ride and run on the course. I joined my friends for a few laps of the bike course before riding around on my own while they ran. We were all anxious for the official decision about the race...to be announced at the meeting...and the murmurs of outrage and shock from the participants were well worth the wait!
I was at the meeting just because I could be...and because that's were all my friends were. When the PowerPoint slide with the new race distances flashed up on the screen, I can't imagine missing the five minutes of chaos that followed. Instead of a 1.5K swim, 40K bike, and 10K run...now the race was a 6.5K run, 40K bike, 10K run! Even the strong runner in the room were shocked...that is a LOT of running for a group of people who train for a race with SWIMMING first and for a race that ONLY has a total of 10K running! Well, the race director was not going to budge on his decision and the race was now a duathlon. (Oh yeah, and it was official, I wasn't going to be on the starting line!)
On Saturday, the race went off as planned, and the people I thought would win, Julie and Hunter, both crossed the line in first place. The weather mirrored our feelings about the race and proceeded to be overcast with a light rain all day. I had fun watching from the sidelines and I was looking forward to the post-race, end-of-the-season celebration. When everyone was finished racing, fed, warmed up, and changed, we all met at one of the many famous eateries in SF for a fun group dinner...followed by more excursions around town before finally crashing back in the hotel room. Jasmine and I actually picked up two stray athletes with no place to stay for the night and had a full floor of snoring friends!
Sunday morning dawned bright, sunny, and dry. We loaded up the mini-van for another short sightseeing trip around the city before getting back to the airport for our flight back to reality!

It's News to Me

This email just came from Tri-Cal, the race organizers for the Treasure Island Triathlon I am competing in on Saturday........
An Important Announcement From Tri Cal:
We are aware of the oil spill in the San Francisco Bay. At this time, the San Francisco Police Department and Water Safety has determined that there is no oil in or around Pirates Cove, Treasure Island where the swim takes place. At this time, we have approval to swim in Pirates Cove. Please continue to check the website for updated information. We are planning to continue with our regularly scheduled events.
What oil spill?!? I guess I need to go check out the news and see what is going on in SF Bay! Scary, I hope it wasn't a big oil tanker or something that crashed or sank...we don't need any more environmental disasters in California for a while, they need to recover from the fires first!
On a more up-beat note, regarding the race in SF this weekend, I just got a call from a wonderful woman named Dixie. She is the Tri-Cal home-stay coordinator and she was calling to inform me that she has an available room at the Hyatt for Jasmine and I to stay in (free of charge)!! She asked if I wanted the room...or did I already have plans?
Ummm...the Hyatt on Fisherman's Wharf...I definitely don't have other plans and if I did, they are already canceled!
Thanks so much Tri-Cal for the sweet accommodations!

NBCOlympics.com!!

Guess who is the new feature blogger on the triathlon page on NBCOlympics.com!?!
Gee, I sure hope that you guessed "Sara McLarty" because that is correct!
Last week I was contacted through the Media Manager at USAT. He said the NBC Olympic website was requesting permission to post my blog on their site...again, guess how long it took me to answer that question?!?
About 5 seconds, to be exact:) That's how long it took me to push the 'reply' button on my Hotmail account and respond with a big YES!
Welcome to my blog if you found this through the NBCOlympics site...my name is Sara McLarty and I'm a professional triathlete trying to make the Beijing Olympics!
If you stumbled on my blog another way...check out the NBCOlympic site for triathlon and all the other sports in the Olympics.

Extra Race Photos

I took these off the ITU site from the Cancun race...which explains why I am pictured in most of them!

Top three out of the water...Me, Jasmine, Sarah! I wore the yellow/purple Speedo suit to make it easy for the girls to spot me!

Rounding the turn buoys and starting our second lap of the swim...check out the water conditions: I call it the "washing machine"!

This was early in the bike, one of the first couple of laps while we were still just a little group of four women...that's the USA Triathlon coach , Melissa, on the sidelines probably yelling a time split to us!

So this is the men's field start the second loop...I thought the photo was pretty cool. Check out the windsurfer in the background...he's FLYING in this wind!

Emotional Roller-Coaster

I had NO idea that traveling down to Cancun for the World Cup last weekend was going to be so emotionally tough for me. I knew all along that I was not going to be able to do the run or finish the race...but I thought "Who cares, I can practice racing and cheer for my teammates."
Well, I did those two things...I had a fantastic swim, I was very strong on the bike, and then I cheered for my amazing American teammates (women and men)...but after the race I was an emotional WRECK! I've never pulled out of a race until I've given it everything I have...and usually I don't get to pull out of the race...it's more like I've collapsed on the side of the road and I need drastic medical attention, therefor, disqualified from the race!
But standing on the side of the run course just emphasized the fact that I could not be out there running and finishing in the top-10 with all the other American women. All my anger and frustration was (and still is) aimed at my darn foot that doesn't want to cooperate and heal! Just the 300 meter run from the beach up the road to the transition area in Cancun aggravated it enough to put me back in Das-Boot...I thought I was finished with this darn thing and could start getting back into form.
NOPE...instead of starting to run I'm heading back to the OTC Doctor to discuss more treatment options...I'm talking to my special running coach for some advice...I'm asking an awesome therapist in West Florida if I can drive across the state to visit his offices...and I'm packing for another race this weekend!
YEP...you read that right...I'm heading over to San Francisco to do this all over again! Apparently I enjoy torturing myself and being upset...just kidding! It's kinda the same reason I went down to Cancun last weekend: I already paid for the hotel, flight, mini-van, race entry...plus, this is officially the end of the season for most all my friends so I couldn't possibly miss the PARTY after the race in a city like SAN FRAN! Look out for photos when I get back from this trip:)

An Athlete's Life

Imagine setting your alarm to wake up the next morning. You set it for the same time as you always do to get up and go to work.
Now, imagine knowing that there could be a knock on your door, ANY and EVERY day, long before your alarm goes off, by two people asking for a couple bottles full of your urine!
Yep, that's the life of an elite athlete...and that was my life this morning. I was woken up by the sound of knocking on my door and almost went back to sleep, but I thought I would at least check to see if there was a problem. To no surprise, there was the local drug-testing-officer standing outside my door...Darn, I had just sleep-walked to the bathroom an hour ago!
Oh well, you gotta do what you gotta do, so I chugged a few cups of water, sat down for a few minutes, and then gave it my best shot.
15 minutes after they knocked on my door, they were leaving with my sealed urine samples (that is a VERY speedy time for a drug test...but that's because I've have been tested MANY times...and I have memorized the whole procedure).
And right as I closed the door behind them, my alarm started going off...perfect!

Cancun Photo Journal

Sarah Groff cooling down after the race in the baby pools (there was ice in the water, but it melted before the race was over...good timing!)


Julie put the 'Stars and Stripes' on the TOP of the podium...she is pictured here with her husband, Gregg! The American women finished 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 9th...that's 5 in the top-10!


Post-medal-ceremony...Jasmine, Julie, Sarah, and me...celebrating in the sunshine!

Re-hydrating with the celebration champagne!

The Red-White-and-Blue Podium (the silver medalist was from France so she's red/white/blue also)!

Check out the awesome post-race massages...yes, Jasmine has 4 masseuses working on her at the same time!

Hanging out at the hotel pools after the race...we were all finished and relaxing by 1pm...perfect time to swim up to the bar and order a daiquiri!

Post-race-party at a restaurant called "Carlos and Charlies"...free food and free balloon hats...life can't get much better than that!

A real Mexican Mariachi band outside the restaurant...we did some dancing to their music (sorry, no photos:)

Hi From Cancun

I made it south of the border...Friday I landed at 2:15pm and got to the hotel about 30 minutes later. No rush for the pre-race meeting, checked into the room and did some unpacking. Jasmine, my roommate, arrived on Thursday so the room was easy to get (I didn't have to wait for the maids to finish cleaning:)
I'm number 10 for this race...my highest World Cup number so far!! Too bad I won't be finishing the race for more points! Anyways, the weather is not at all what I expected it to be...instead of a constant rain, we've got constant HIGH winds! The water is CHOP and you feel like you are swimming in a washing machine! I'll be biking the course at 3pm when they have a police escort...other than that, just relaxing in the room watching TV (thankgoodness most channels are in English:)

Trivia Question

Q: Would the world's fastest race-walker run if chased by Samurais?

A: Watch this video on YouTube and be prepared to laugh your butt off!!

(Thanks go to Chad for passing on this great link:)