Racing Season Approaches

The first thing on my list of "Things To Do" is take the entry form for the Florida's Great Escape race down to the fax machine and get registered for the race next weekend.
Yep, you read that correctly, my first race of 2008 is next Sunday, March 9th, over in Clermont at Lake Louisa State Park. The gun goes off at 8am and I should be finishing somewhere around 9am...it's a sprint distance! Nothing better than racing a triathlon that takes about an hour to complete. (Who suggested that 2 hour distance to the Olympic committee??) The race flier says 1K swim, 25K bike, 5K run...PERFECT...a long swim and bike (compared to the run distance) is what I look for in races!
Earlier this week I submitted my completed forms and required payment to become a member of the Daytona Beach Speed swim team (again) as well as register with USA Swimming as an active member.
Now, you might be asking, why would I be spending time and money for all that? Fabulous question...thanks for asking...I'm actually still debating the answer myself. But, the main reason is that I have been talked-into competing at the Sectionals swim meet in Orlando in two weeks time!!
Oh my gosh...what have I gotten myself into?!?! I've entered the 200, 400 and 800 meter freestyles (none of that multi-stroke-IM stuff, I might seriously embarrass myself:)! I thought that all my winter swim training could be put to use (and entertainment) by diving back into the competition pool...and mainly, this is to remind myself WHY I retired from the sport of swimming 4 years ago: because it's painful!!
Right away, I sent an email off to Speedo (my sponsor) to inform them of this interesting decision...and to request a few of the FASTEST suits they manufacture so that I might have the best advantage possible over the 14 and 15 year-olds that I'm going to be swimming against:). Actually, in the slower heats that I'm going to be in, I'll probably be lining up against the 12 and 13 year-olds!
Other than those fascinating events that are looming in my future, I'm still hanging out in Florida at the McLarty Farm. I'm actually helping out around here when my presence is requested...like right now...I am heading outside (in the heat of the day...notice the timestamp on this post) to help my Dad paint the outside of the Greenhouse! Paint now, blog more later:)