It’s here!  The weekend that triathletes from all over the world have been waiting for…St. Anthony’s Triathlon!!

I remember St. A’s as being the big gun, the season opener.  Pasty white northerners would journey to St. Petersburg to dive into the warm gulf basin waters of Spa Beach.  The locals would pray that it would be a wet-suit-legal race so as not to freeze their butts off.  Pros would flock in, bikes would whizz by, and the crowd would all be abuzz. 

It’s still like that for a lot of people.  However, with the plethora of Ironman and 70.3 races in the mix, the season is well underway for many.

For me, it’s the season opener.  A training race for the season.  A mere blip on my screen.

OK, truth is, I’m not exactly trained and ready for it.  Am I nervous?  No.  Will I embarrass myself?  No, because nobody really cares what I do anyway.  Will it be pretty?  Not in the least bit.  Will I be happy about it?  Heck yeah!

You see, I’m running again.  Not far, not up to speed, but running.  And that makes me happy.  (As many of you know, I don’t even LIKE to run, but I like to “race”, so it’s a little easier to do that if running is in my repertoire.)  I’m just going to go out there and be happy.  Just to BE there…ah, the joy!

I’ve just finished moving (back into my old place that has been torn down and rebuilt due to defects).  Yeah for me, I’m home again!  My sister and her fam are here for the week.  I’ve taken most of the week off from work to visit and play.  Yeah for me!  The weather is sunny and blue, the flowers are blooming; natural order is restored. 

Balance?  Hmmmm…a little counter-balance always exists.  A friend has been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.  He’d rather be racing, but will be at the beach to watch.  He’s strong and funny and determined, but sick.  Another friend passed away Tuesday evening.  She “fought the good fight”.  But Hallelujah for Wendy!  She will be watching us all on race weekend…pain free, sight restored, and glad as hell that she doesn’t have to get into the choppy basin waters.  (Well, that’s what I think, anyway!  And it is my blog…)

I had a little panic in the St. Pete Mad Dog open water swim last night.  Who cares.  I’m not well-trained.  Heck, I haven’t even run 6.1 miles yet.  Who cares. 

It’s St. Anthony’s Triathlon Weekend!  Welcome World!