Danskin 2006

Its not a good thing to get bronchitis 2 days before your triathlon. I felt much better by today (until I started exercising). It was hard to get efficient oxygenation, and I didn't really improve my times much over last year. The rattle of phlegm in my bronchi accompanied me on the entire course.


Anyway, the real story of this year's triathlon was Emily (nicknamed "Iron Em" by her boyfriend, who took all these great photos). Emily was awesome, and signed up even though she was a little afraid of this intimidating event. She never wavered on the course, and completed it tired but happy and grinning.


Here I am in the water, waiting for my wave to start. It is very inspirational to be in a race, surrounded by so many other women exactly my age.


Emily in the water, waiting for her start, 8 minutes behind me.


Running up the hill to my bike after the swim.

There is an unbelievably steep long hill at the end of the bike course. It is ugly and taxing, and lots of competitors actually get off and walk up the hill. The run course parallels this hill. I happened to be jogging down the hill the same time Emily was just making it to the top of the biking hill. I yelled to her, "Go, Iron Em! You did it! You're doing great!" and she cheered me on as well. Emily looked really good, and she hadn't gotten off her bike at all!

At the end of the race, I found my support team: Anthony, Anna, and Colin. I know I couldn't have done gotten ready for the triathlon without their encouragement and understanding.


Here we are, at the end of race. "What do you want to do now?" I asked Emily. "EAT!" she said.