Longhorn 70.3: THE AFTERMATH

i got drunk. i had taken a vow of a teetotaler for three and a half months. i kept to it. strictly. at the finish line we hugged and cried - well i was fine until i saw my dad just a boo hoo-ing and that got me all worked up - but mostly i was so damned happy to be done with the thing. i just wanted a drink of the alcoholic nature and as luck would have it, my parents were prepared. they brought along ciders for me, beer for the boys and Dana and champagne to boot. i had one and a quarter of the ciders and was three sheets to the wind in no time flat. we cheered the rest of the group in (i just so happened to finish first, which was so cool because my best friend from college came down to cheer me on and kept saying "God Katie, you're amazing! You even beat all your guys! That's so cool!" and that was fantastic - to see the pride on his face, priceless) - drinking all the way. i mentioned before that i had to pee pretty much throughout the entire run yet i still hadn't gone. an hour after i finished, i realized i still hadn't gone but still had too so in true Texas form, i found a tree and popped a squat. i know, i know - classy. but i had to go and i didn't feel like standing in line for the port o' potties when there was a perfectly good tree up the tailgating sight calling my name - especially when i had a medium rare ribeye and sweet potato just waiting for me when i got back. dad had spent the morning getting fajitas and brauts cooked up for the crew so they would have a good meal waiting for them after the day's events. me being the favorite (read: only) daughter and all - their pride and joy - i got the special steak, cured with love and cooked to perfection. i was tired and worn out but i was having the most fun. we laughed and joked the rest of the day until we finally noticed we were the last group there and the last ones left to extract our gear from transition. i'd like to say we hightailed it over to get it done quickly, but there was no hightailing anything in our drunken, beaten down state - so we moseyed over to the site and packed up. the rest of the night was pretty uneventful. we were all pretty wiped out. i did get called princess quite a bit that night, but i was used to it by then (i made us change rooms because the one Bri and Ryan were in smelled like smoke and i was not having it - so i marched right up to the front desk, smiled pretty and got us a nonsmoking one instead).

i had been feeling a sicky coming on all week long and as soon as the event concluded, the sicky took full steam ahead and that's pretty much where i've been since - deathly ill. ok. not deathly. but ill for sure. now i'm trying to detox and having a horrible time of it. i'm cranky, have a horrid headache, STARVING and sleepy - but this is the way to get the sicky out for good and kick start my body back into healthy mode for the upcoming off season training that only lasts two precious months, then back to the pool, pavements and trails to get stronger, faster, better than last year and break 6 hours at Wildflower. that's right, i said it. God willing, my knees will have plenty of time to get stronger and stop their damn whining so that i can achieve this goal. here's to the off season, progress and break neck speed :)