Dinner at Woodlands (Indian), originally uploaded by speedvegan.

Masala Dosa

TGIF dinner, originally uploaded by speedvegan.

Spanakopita, vino and the first mountain stage of the TdF. Perfect combination.

Dinner, originally uploaded by speedvegan.

Vegan Farmer’s Market pizza from Pizza Fusion and the TdF Team Time Trial. Perfect !

Dinner, originally uploaded by speedvegan.

My mom made lentils for us which we’re having tonight with brown rice. Mmm.

Organic Music Cafe, originally uploaded by speedvegan.

We’re trying a new local cafe with vegan and raw options. There’s brunch on Sundays so we decided on tofu scramble and this delicious french toast.

4th of July Dinner, originally uploaded by speedvegan.

Isa’s poppy seed polenta with her brunch mushroom-thyme recipe. Delicious combo.

A timeless present, originally uploaded by speedvegan.

Somehow, I ended up with the only watch my mom owned until a decade ago when it stopped working and she couldn’t be bothered to fix it. It had originally belonged to one of my great aunts who passed away when my mom was a teenager. The watch must be at least 60 years old at this point. I had thought about giving it back to my mom with a new band, at least, but immediately changed my mind when Geoffrey suggested I get it restored. I took it to a local watch shop expecting to be turned away, but was happily surprised at how helpful they were. In a couple of weeks time, they fixed my mom’s watch, cleaned it, swapped the crystal face for an identical replica of the original and put a beautiful brand new band on it. I asked them not to change the original dial since I do want my mom to recognize it. Here it is wrapped in a hand crafted rosewood box I got for her today. I cannot wait to see the look on her face when she opens it. I don’t even think she knows that it still exists !

400 meter swim – 10 mile bike – 2.5 mile run

Total Time: 1:01:29
Swim: 10:10
T1: 1:20
Bike: 28:42
T2: 0:54
Run: 20:23
Overall Place: 134 out of 378
Gender Place: 19 out of 133
Category Place: 4 out of 16

I have a love/hate relationship with Triathlons. I love them because they’re hard and challenging and completing one makes me feel… awesome. Yet, I hate them because the anticipation of one robs me of what little confidence I have and makes me annoyingly jittery, especially during the hours leading up to their start. Mainly, I blame the swim.

Today’s race was no exception to these feelings. Not only was it my first Triathlon in almost a year, it was also my first lake swim. I use the term “lake” loosely, since perhaps pond would be more fit to describe this particular body of water. I was prepared for anything, but that doesn’t mean I had to like it. I love the ocean and have lived near it my whole life. I simply can’t see the attraction of swimming in a lake, especially in South Florida.

The Swim
I took one step into the lake and, just as I feared, it felt gross. The three waves before mine did a good job of stirring the water up, so it was a nice solid brown for my wave. Mmm. The algae was all the way to the surface, wrapping around my arms and legs with every stroke. Can’t say I enjoyed that or that it helped to get me to the other side faster, but I made it and I only missed my goal time by 10 seconds, so I was happy, but happier still to be out of the lake.

The Bike
Duathlon or Triathlon, this is my favorite part of every race. I was particularly excited today because I would get to test my new Triathlon bike – a 2009 WSD Trek Equinox 7. I’ve had an intimate relationship with Quintana Roo since I started racing Triathlons and I was very skeptical of my new partner. However, I have to bite my tongue today and take my hat off to Trek. The Equinox is a killer machine and it got me through the twisty, curvy, badly marked and overall tough course in record time. I am very pleased and look forward to many more races together.

Giving the new bike some love

The Run
My legs started to go a bit by the end of the bike. I don’t think I had a big enough breakfast or enough water on the bike, though I did drink a few gallons of lake water, so I’m sure it all balanced out. Also, I find that with Triathlons, my breathing goes into chaotic mode once my face hits the water and I can’t get it back to normal until I cross the finish line. Needless to say, I didn’t PR the run course which I’d hoped to do, but I’m happy with my effort.

I think things went well considering this is my first Triathlon of the season and I haven’t done much time in the pool. I will be doing Triathlons the rest of the season, one more Sprint and two Olympics leading up to a Half Iron distance at the end of the year (which happens to be another “lake” swim). I am definitely going to be spending a lot more time in the pool. That’s what I have to take away from today’s experience (and the fact that Geoffrey is a wonderful partner). Happy 4th and thanks for reading.