Wordless Wednesday

What a BLAST!

My jittery nerves were gone once I saw the lay of the land on Friday when Anne and I went to pickup our race kits. We got to walk through the transition area down to the lake and look around. It was a long distance from the water to T1 (hey, I can talk like a pro now, just kidding), it was about 400 metres, uphill and no, I'm not kidding. There was quite a hike from transition to get on your bike too, but it is all part of it.

The alarm went off at 04:00 and my body clock went off at 03:59, I was ready!! Won't bore you with my morning ablutions Saturday morning, but once ready I packed up the car and racked up Ruby Red Rose (formerly Second Hand Rose), and headed out into the dense fog and drizzle and blackness. Driving in to town under those conditions was a tad nerve wracking, always looking for lurking deer and suicidal frogs that leap in front of your car on early fall mornings, yuck!

First thing I did when I arrived was take the bike and rack it in the transition area. Back to the car for my itty bitty transition bag and the rest of my stuff. Jeez, I packed as if I was leaving home for three months....On my way back for the third trip I found Anne and Dean arriving with her bike. My main concern was to stay out of her way as she was preparing for the Half Iron.

The Iron Man had already started, so we went down to see the first of the swimmers come out of the water...now that was exciting to see. Man they are fast. Anne went off for orientation and I wandered around the grounds, aimlessly until I heard my name called and yes, there they were, the Wooo Hooo's!!! How great is that? Glenda and Jen drove all the way to see us and Nancy, Brenda and her special man Roger biked over to the event....what a great feeling to know that I (we) had tons of support!!

Because of my orientation, I didn't get to see Anne start out for her swim. I must say, the fellow who conducted our orientation was an absolute hoot. He certainly spelled it all out for us newbies, yet made us all very comfortable and included at the same time. What a great sense of humour too, what little was left of my nervousness, he certainly put it to rest. As soon as that was over I had my cap and goggles and headed down to see Anne come out of the water....awesome to see, we were all cheering her on!

Anne giving some one the directions of the swim, hope she was pointing her in the right direction!


Anne on her way out of the water

Next event, the sprint and the try-a-tri, yikes, I'm on deck!





Since I only have shots from my camera (the Wooo Hooo's haven't sent me their pic's yet) you will subjected to what is on my camera!!


obviously a beach shot!



I'd like to think that I was leading the pack out of the water, but, nope it just looks that way!!

The swim had been broken into three parts, the sprints went first, the try-a-tri men were next and then the TT women (see I'm back with the lingo again). People were doing whatever stroke was their strongest, yes, they were doing the dog paddle, back crawl, front crawl and even the breaststroke....the wooo hooo's thought I was doing the breaststroke and even took a picture of the person coming out of the water thinking it was me....she was in my last post!

This is an action shot of the Creature from the Black Lagoon emerging from the depths!

Next, bike transition.

Me, Ms. Fussy about how my running shoes go on, just blasted her way through this change over. Normally I'm very particular about how I put on my socks and shoes, NOPE not this time. In fact I couldn't find one of my socks, it took about 30 seconds to locate it! (In the transition zone, well, let's just say, things get kicked around a lot).

Let me tell you, I jammed my socks and shoes on so fast, I actually chipped my toenail polish!! What a princess! LMAO!!

Again, there was quite a hike to get out to where you could bike mount, then off I went!! Like a thundering herd of turtles...

The Zoom photographer on the bike course was holding up signs saying "Smile for the camera", and when I was approaching he dropped the sign and said "I don't have to tell you that, you haven't had that smile off your face since you got here".

Finally, I get to the element I do know, running!

The run was a riot, I hopped off the bike and took little wee baby steps all the way to the bike rack, which in the "long run" really helped me get my running legs back under me. In the transition area my fuel belt had been shuffled around, so it was quite twisted and hard to get on, I picked it up and tried to get it straighted out, but ended up handing it off to a volunteer, if I had been going on a longer run, I would have been screwed because I didn't have any gels nor liquid with me. Of course on the longer run they have water stations, but, something to work on that's for sure.

The run route was very hilly, some hills were quite steep and I couldn't stop thinking to myself, thank goodness my strength is in the running department. I really did feel sorry for some of the try's, they certainly struggled up those hills.

Finally, to the finish line!

1:11:06

I had a BLAST!

The Wooo Hooo's were there for me snapping pictures and of course yelling "wooo hooo". My friends are amazing! They were there for me AND they were there for Anne, when one of us would come out of transition they were there! THANK YOU WOOO HOOO'S!

Anne was on the bike course when I finished up, so went over to watch her for a couple of loops. Then being the true athlete that I am, I went to the Lone Star for lunch and BEvERAges with the gang while Anne peddled her "assets".

One by one, because of prior commitments, the Wooo Hooo's headed home and I went back to watch Anne finish up her Half Iron. She was awesome! What an amazing lady...we all just love her!

As for me;

This is definitely something that will become part of my life, next year an OLY.....maybe a Half...we will see what the stars hold for me!

I had a GREAT DAY, I love it....

Lessons learned:

• get a transition bag that is sturdier,
• maybe a wetsuit
• maybe bike shoes
• definitely a top with a little more support, I'm a little too old and top heavy to have the Mama Chiquita's bouncing around in public (without getting paid for it!, JK)
• work on transitions,
• give yourself more than two weeks to train! LMAO
  

Put this on you list people, you have to try one before you die!!

Life's fun if you don't weaken,

Lily

Friday the 13th

Introduction to How Friday the 13th Works**

Let's look at this objectively for a second:

In order to organize time, human beings created calendars.

As part of today's dominant calendar system, every year is divided into 12 periods called months, consisting of roughly 30 days each.

All days are also grouped into sets of seven, called weeks.

In the Western world, a significant chunk of the population suspects bad things will happen whenever the 13th day of a month occurs on the day of the week called Friday.

Like many human beliefs, the fear of Friday the 13th (known as paraskevidekatriaphobia) isn't exactly grounded in scientific logic. But the really strange thing is that most of the people who believe the day is unlucky offer no explanation at all, logical or illogical. As with most superstitions, people fear Friday the 13th for its own sake, without any need for background information.
The superstition does have deep, compelling roots, however, and the origins help explain why the belief is so widespread today. In this article, we'll look at some of the interesting stories behind this unluckiest of days.

The Christian TraditionThe fear of Friday the 13th stems from two separate fears -- the fear of the number 13 and the fear of Fridays. Both fears have deep roots in Western culture, most notably in Christian theology.

Thirteen is significant to Christians because it is the number of people who were present at the Last Supper (Jesus and his 12 apostles). Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th member of the party to arrive.

Leonardo da Vinci's fresco of the Last Supper

Christians have traditionally been wary of Fridays because Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Additionally, some theologians hold that Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden fruit on a Friday, and that the Great Flood began on a Friday. In the past, many Christians would never begin any new project or trip on a Friday, fearing they would be doomed from the start.

Sailors were particularly superstitious in this regard, often refusing to ship out on a Friday. According to unverified legend (very likely untrue), the British Navy commissioned a ship in the 1800s called H.M.S. Friday, in order to quell the superstition. The navy selected the crew on a Friday, launched the ship on a Friday and even selected a man named James Friday as the ship's captain. Then, one Friday morning, the ship set off on its maiden voyage... and disappeared forever. A similar, entirely factual story is the harrowing flight of Apollo 13.

Some historians suggest the Christian distrust of Fridays is actually linked to the early Catholic Church's overall suppression of pagan religions and women. In the Roman calendar, Friday was devoted to Venus, the goddess of love. When Norsemen adapted the calendar, they named the day after Frigg, or Freya, Norse goddesses connected to love and sex. Both of these strong female figures once posed a threat to male-dominated Christianity, the theory goes, so the Christian church vilified the day named after them.

This characterization may also have played a part in the fear of the number 13. It was said that Frigg would often join a coven of witches, normally a group of 12, bringing the total to 13. This idea may have originated with the Christian Church itself; it's impossible to verify the exact origins of most folklore. A similar Christian legend holds that 13 is unholy because it signifies the gathering of 12 witches and the devil.

The number 13 could also have been considered pagan because there are 13 months in the pagan lunar calendar. The lunar calendar also corresponds to the human menstrual cycle, connecting the number to femininity.

Other Traditions

Fear Free?

You may not take drastic safety precautions every Friday the 13th, but are you totally immune to the superstition? Given the choice, would you get married, start a new job or close on a house on Friday the 13th? Most Americans wouldn't, even though they don't put much stock in the idea. Superstition has a way of creeping up on people when they're in a particularly vulnerable state.
The Christian perspective on Friday and 13 is the most relevant today, but it's only one part of the Friday the 13th tradition.

Some trace the infamy of the number 13 back to ancient Norse culture. In Norse mythology, the beloved hero Balder was killed at a banquet by the mischievous god Loki, who crashed the party of twelve, bringing the group to 13. This story, as well as the story of the Last Supper, led to one of the most entrenched 13-related beliefs: You should never sit down to a meal in a group of 13.
Another significant piece of the legend is a particularly bad Friday the 13th that occurred in the middle ages. On a Friday the 13th in 1306, King Philip of France arrested the revered Knights Templar and began torturing them, marking the occasion as a day of evil. Check out this site to learn more.

Both Friday and the number 13 were once closely associated with capital punishment. In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the noose.

Ultimately, the complex folklore of Friday the 13th doesn't have much to do with people's fears today. The fear has much more to do with personal experience. People learn at a young age that Friday the 13th is supposed to be unlucky, for whatever reason, and then they look for evidence that the legend is true. The evidence isn't hard to come by, of course. If you get in a car wreck on one Friday the 13th, lose your wallet, or even spill your coffee, that day will probably stay with you. But if you think about it, bad things, big and small, happen all the time. If you're looking for bad luck on Friday the 13th, you'll probably find it.

Life's fun if you don't weaken,

Lily

**Tom Harris, holds a B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.