where to start?

lets go with the pre-race day highlights and then we'll get to the race report, probably in sections so you aren't too overwhelmed with the novel at hand...



highlight1:
taking Clara to Barton Springs where her daddy and i used to swim as kids. we were always told that we were not to get wet, that we could roll up our pants and stick our feet in. and every time, we'd end up leaving the park completely soaked because one of us had pushed the other one in against the pleading and warnings of our handlers :) i distinctly remember riding home on more than one occasion butt-naked with a towel wrapped around my little kid body and my brother and i drawing lines across the back seat that the other one wasn't supposed to cross. well we all know how well the doing what your supposed to did not work in this particular brother/sister relationship ;) some of the best times ever were had in that spring of ice cold water that always seemed to get warmer just by having the two of us in it together.


highlight2:
taking Clara to Whole Foods for her daddy's special birthday dinner and cake celebration. mom and i had his favorite - cheesecake, and Clara had his second favorite - chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. we all ate every single bite and enjoyed every last minute of it as we looked up to the sky and said "happy birthday, we love you to the moon..."





highlight3:
picking up team barney butter from the airport and then stopping for dinner at Taco Bell after BG had begged us to stop somewhere "Texas." since it was already 10 and not much is open that late in the back country on a Thursday, we had to settle for the first thing we saw and Taco Bell was it. poor guys. i'm sure that volcano taco did 'em wonders later that night, tucked away in the camper up at the neighbors where the momma cougar makes her nightly prowl for the unsuspecting Bambie's of the Morgan's Point Resort forest. come to find out, Ryan even ventured out of the camper one of the nights to urinate...brave soul. its lucky for him he wasn't eaten!!!!



highlight4:
driving up to the best damn bar-b-que place i have ever been. letting my eyes nearly pop out of my head when i saw all the meat on the grill - deer sausage, hot sausage, mild sausage, brisket, baby back ribs, short ribs, steak, chicken and pork chops. salivating at the thought of the meat entering my mouth so much so that i couldn't decide what kind of meat to get so i got them all. sitting down to eat my meat and savoring every single bite. getting hyper excited about the fact that it was in my hometown at the exact same time i got sad that i no longer live near my hometown to enjoy the delectableness of it all on any type of a regular basis. driving up to the super Wal Mart where we bought 7 some odd cases of beer, 4 bottles of champagne, 10 pints of Blue Bell ice cream and a shit load of God knows what to get us through the trip down to Austin for race day. then making another pit stop at the liquor store where BG, Dana and i each bought a bottle of my favorite port wine AND a case of cider for the after race celebration. and the best part - seeing my mom's face when we walked in looking like a bunch of drunken hippies getting ready to get wasted on her lovely lake view estate :)



highlight5:
going on and on about how we needed to leave at such and such a time on Saturday morning to be in Austin by this and that time. getting frustrated with the drunken carbo loading yahoos and their inability to pay attention to the details of the plan and then me being the one to make everyone wait to leave the next morning because i was running behind and had no idea where i was going. BG and i jamming out to the likes of billy jo bob's bluegrass mamba jamba and missing the exit to the transition site while Tim and Ryan took the right exit but missed the left turn and ended up at the XXXadult video megaplex. getting to the absolute worst expo in the world only to find out that the race was indeed going to be wetsuit legal and me freaking out, trying to decide if i should buy a wet suit for the added buoyancy seeing as how i found out the day prior that i had completely lost all floatability in the fresh water without one. CB talking me down from the ledge i had edged out to in my tizzy while Ryan ordered the boomchickylacka boom boom sauce chicken dish to satisfy his pre-pre-race meal appetite, and all of us eating entirely too much only 2 hours before we were supposed to eat our pre-race dinner and loving every minute of it.


highlight6:
getting so damned lost on the "course preview" that we had to actually stop and ask for directions and this is what we got (thanks Ryan for remembering her words, i couldn't remember anything after the door comment):
katie: excuse me, how do we get to Blake-manor Road?
lady: Blake Manor road?
katie: yes, please.
lady: well, you're on Ann Showers. just keep going a couple miles and turn left on Damita Jo (i am not making these street names up. this is Texas people, back woods Texas at that), when you get to Damita Jo, keep your doors locked and...(the transcript ends here, because the SoCal city kids all pooped themselves)


highlight7:
taking the kids to eat fried alligator and God knows what else the night before our race (nothing new on raceday schmaceday) and then not sleeping all night long in anticipation of the next morning and the looming knowledge that we were all about to become half ironmen (well Dana already was one, but who's counting?).

highlight8:
Clara in all of my tri gear (future ironman in the works right here!). this is perfection at its best. i got to sit, sleep, play, hug, kiss and love my niece for 2 straight days and then some. fantastic. better than fantastic - priceless...