I guess plans can be good

What an awesome weekend! Friday really set my mood in motion, and I kept positive Saturday and Sunday, even becoming more hopeful of my performance in the upcoming Hickory Knob Sprint tri in a couple of weeks. I already picked out two really fast dudes, so right now the best I can realistically hope for is 3rd in my age group. Not downing myself, just reality; I haven't been doing this long, and my swim doesn't do me any favors. But, I think I can do well, and intend to be in the top 5. Or should I say "plan"?

At the end of my last entry, I mentioned planning on doing the group ride with Carolina Triathlon on Saturday morning. I also alluded to not planning on setting any land speed records, meaning I was going to try to have an easy-ish ride, hopefully hanging off the back of the B group. Half of that wasn't meant to be. I did join the group ride, but they decided (without consulting ME!!) to join the A (lightning fast) and B (pretty fast, but comfortable for me) groups, essentially creating a B+ group. The alternative was the *ahem* more conservatively paced C group, but that would have just made me irritated. {sigh} So, B+ group it was. We wound up going at a pretty fast pace in a lot of sections, but I held on okay. I pulled some, but tried to not push too much. One of the shop guys leading it, Sideshow (real name Tim, but nicknamed for his hair), had to peel off and get back to the shop, so we took a shortcut. Truth be told, everyone was supposed to take it, but the lead group didn't hear that, so they zigged when we zagged. Anyway, we wound our way back, and I wound up pulling the 3 of us up a ~2 mile stretch that's mostly a shallow uphill. At the light near the shop, I made a futile attempt to sprint finish, but Sideshow walked away from me. Still, it was a great ride:

42.76 miles in 2:14:50 @ 19.03 mph avg

I went straight to the coffee shop (Lava Java) to meet my ladiez, already gettin their grub on. I sat there in my spandex, looking goooooood, and chatting with our friend - the shop owner. Grace ate a whole bagel & cream cheese to herself! Then we went home, did some chores, and I talked Mendy into going to Northampton Wines for some relaxation and grub. Sooooo delicious!

Sunday started before I had planned, since I stayed up to watch Bug (not bad, but don't let the kiddies watch - boobies and wiener), but I did enjoy the trade off: we enjoyed a family breakfast out at our favorite diner. Then we were off to church to see Chris Sligh (of American Idol fame) play for the last time at our church. He left today for Nashville, where he is beginning his music career: Christian music, not country music. I had forgotten how great he harmonized with the lady that sings, and how well it all sounded with the band. Man, we are going to miss his contribution, but wish him well!

After church, we came home again, and were off to the park downtown, cameras in hand. Grace had a BLAST playing on the slides and all the other playground toys. Then we had ice cream from the little truck (Grace ate a Dora head ice cream - kinda disturbing), and got thoroughly messy. What fun! Time to get in the water, right? We drove up to main street and parked, then wandered down to a new kids play area with a waterfall and fountain that shoots jets up at random patterns. The water was freezing, and the air wasn't hot (78 deg and in the shade), but Grace wanted to play. I decided she should change into her swim suit (yeah, a bikini) to play any more, since we would need warm clothes to change her in to. She flashed everyone before we could react, and then got her changed surfer style, behind a towel. After about 20-30 minutes, she was getting pretty cold, so I was somehow able to talk Mendy into going to the Mellow Mushroom for some grub. Perfect ending to the perfect day.

Okay, so it wasn't the end: we came home and sat out on the back deck enjoying the evening. Grace finally fell asleep around 9:30 and her parents were able to enjoy some nice shiraz. Awesome evening, mostly unplanned, but perfectly according to plan.

Today was back to the pool for some moderate distance and a nice run after work:
Swim: 1500yds in 25:54 @ 1:44/100yds (8:21, 8:51, 8:42 splits)
Run: 4.28 miles in 29:16 @ 6:50/mile

That is all: carry on...