I drove to San Jose very slowly. Actually, not as slowly as I was supposed to but still, under 80mph.

What I was dreading most about the race was the swimming part. I'd heard bad things about the swimming part. A friend's wife was doing the race and she'd gone for a practice swim (enough to scare me). "Yeah, and two hours later her skin broke out. It was nasty. Really nasty. It's just clearing up now."

San Jose, the cesspool.

I stood there shivering in my little racing bikini. We were grouped by our ages with the elite fancy athletes at the front. I was in the white cap swimming heat. There were a couple of guys cheering on the women. I think maybe they had encouraged them to do this triathlon thing. I noticed all the guys had shaved legs. They had fancy sunglasses on. They looked at home. Up at 6:30 on a Saturday morning. And surrounded by 1800 women with uber-fit bodies.

The water was cold. It really stank of motor oil, too. I hung out at the very back of my heat. I always do that. My motto being that you can only do better. Within 10 minutes of swimming, my left foot was completely numb from the cold. And while I thought that one couldn't do much worse than being at the back, damn if the orange caps weren't suddenly sloshing by me. Note to self: Do not wear goggles. You can see in the murky water which is very off putting.

Next was biking. Ahhhhh, more my cup of joe. And biking in my green bikini! There's nothing better than cycling in a swim suit. I love my bike.

I'm not at all competitive when it comes to sports. I'm more of a chat along the way kind of gal mostly because I have this lazy streak in me. But, for some reason, I got on the bike and I became driven. I went really fast downhill. I never do that. I tucked and crouched and climbed up the hill and swore to my bike that we'd go out more often. One woman passed me in the biking leg; she looked very professional.

The brick leg: That's when you go from biking to running. Pretty much, you have cramps up and down your shins. I'd practiced going from biking to running before so I knew the pain was just normal and that you had to ignore it. If I didn't run a lot I'd probably have thought that there was something chronically wrong with my legs. A good number of women were walking. Another good number were jamming.

The run was horrendously boring. Here we live in the Bay Area and we had to do an out and back loop. Past big pink houses nestled in brown grass hills that have three garages and no trees within a 10 mile radius. It wasn't very exciting.

And so came the end. Supposedly you get better at these endurance races as you move towards your mid thirties so I have a whole decade to improve. Though, it's not the pain endurance that I have a problem with. I just don't think I'm much of a triathlete. I like the long stretches of solitude that running races give you. And I'm not organized at all which just doesn't suit the sport. Imagine nearly forgetting my bike! Running is simple; I just turn up in what I'm going to run in and go. Next weekend is the Double Dipsea which is predicable fun. 14 miles of trail running from Stinson Beach up Mount Tam down to Mill Valley. And then back again. The wildflowers are awesome, the views are beautiful, Cardiac Hill kills you and the stairs out of Mill Valley just add to the technical wizardry necessary when choosing your steps. I think it took me about 4 hours a few years ago. Who knows if I'll even make it to the end but I'm willing to bet I will. I can't wait.

That said, there's the Tiburon Triathlon coming up on July 25^th which I think I'll give a go. Wetsuit is necessary. At least I can be sure it'll be scenic.

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