A new triathlete is born and get-well "bakies"

Congrats to Mendy on her first (of many?) triathlon!!! She did great, and without significant preparation and training, had some awesome times. I was very jealous of her, and really itched to do the race myself, but was happy to be able to cheer her on. Grace was a trooper, too, with a very early wake up call and a long morning in the heat. Despite that, she cheered and clapped, and stayed in a very good mood! Scott and Robin, and later Daniel (Mendy's brother) and mom-in-law were there to help cheer and enjoy the day, too. Thanks for dedicating a very early morning to come out and help Mendy!

It was weird being on the other side of things. I saw people that I would have been racing with/against, and it fueled my desire to heal and get back out there. The guy closest to me in points and recent results came in 4th in our age group. Since I have been just slightly faster than him lately, that would have been me most likely. THAT sucks!

A bunch of friends did really well: Jamie came in 3rd overall (2nd Elite male), Chris coming in 8th overall (4th Elite male), Pam placing 2nd in her age group, Hal placing 3rd in his, Clay at 20th overall (8th Elite male), Olivier, Eric, and Scott (Pam's husband) doing very well in their ultra-competitive age groups with some smokin' fast times. I'm jealous of the great race you guys had! I don't know how, but I have got to get it in gear and race the SC HIM!!

Before the race, Chris had mentioned he had something for me, referencing a previous comment I made. After the race, as I talked with friends and inquired of their races, I got a chance to speak with the G-Man. Though not finishing as well as perhaps he had hoped, he was ever-positive describing the finish as no worse than he expected or trained for. And then, the most awesome surprise: His lovely wife Janis had stayed up really really late and labored intensively over a hot stove to hand-craft the most delicious "bakies" as a get-well gift for me. Chris said normally she is an extremely healthful cook, but he insisted on full "nutrition" content for these: brown sugar, real butter, etc. Holy cow, I'm glad you all are too far away to taste them, or there wouldn't be nearly enough for me! The heaving bag of well over a dozen call to me every time I walk near. Chris, please thank your wonderful wife for the bakies! She rocks!!

Recovery is still going well. I'm getting angry that I can't get on the bike yet, and may strap the bike to the trainer in the next few days for some exercise. My leg, right forearm, left shoulder and elbow are still bandaged, but healing rapidly. The leg still hurts, though. My nose is filling in nicely, and I may not have that much scarring besides the uneven area between my top "lip" and nose. Yes, Mendy, I realize I don't actually have a top lip, but just imagine where it should have been to picture where I'm referring to.

I'm flat out tired of this stoned feeling, though. I would have made a horrible pot head, it seems. Or maybe it's just because it's a low intensity sensation, persisting now for 2 weeks, that it's more annoying than pleasurable. Whatever, I am just ready for it to be done. I feel like absolutely tearing up the road on my bike...just as long as there are no turns. :-)