First off, its Oct 1- Wow!! Lets think..Pumpkin, cooler weather, leaves, and applecider. Ahhh, yes that was nice. Anyway, This past weekend we had a wonderful horrific rain storm that didnt want to leave us! The Houston Triathlon, which happens to be my favorite race, turned into an Aqua-thon (swim-run).... and I still dont know how I feel about it.lol! I love this race because its local, and all my clients, teammates, and friends are out there--all at the same place!! The atmosphere is amazing, and the dampening weather didnt shy us away. Unfortunately, the bike got canceled because of flooding and safety, so when I read this at 4:30 am, I was very confused!! What do I do? I didnt train for this?? Running after you swim is soo hard!! But, I quickly forgot about this and just decided to go after it. After a rough ROUGH week and barely managing to get through 30 minutes of workouts, I knew I needed to pull myself together, focus and just GO. The Swim: 1500m (Oly Distance). After Chicago and a rather disappointing swim, I knew I could swim better. I wrote in my last report, that I KNOW that I need to go with the pack, and if I get kicked, then I get kicked- I have to go with them and not shy away like I usually do. So Today, I started in my usual spot ( a shy away from the outside, always for safety measures). We went out hard and after about 100-200 meters I said its now or never so I cut in and got in the pack. Atleast I TRIED to get into the pack. I managed to probably catch some draft, but still was not all the way in the pack. They got about 20 seconds on me, but I was SO proud of myself. I swam 21:40. Thats more like it! My coach was on the 1/2 mile run to T1 and she let me know I was only 20seconds down from super star and friend Sarah. Wow, I did have a great swim. The swim was and STILL is something I know I need to work on. Yes, I had a decent swim, but I know I need to drop atleast another minute to compete with the pro girls. I was just glad to see that there is hope in getting to that point, and I will work my butt off for 4 months during base training to get this. I have asked a few faster swimmers to meet with me occasionally for a royal A** whooping, and I am going to join a masters group for a weekly A** whooping. Beatings are good....You can only get so fast by youself...You need others to push you sometimes (even if it is catching their draft!!) The Run: 10K run. One word: Weird.  To just go from swim to run is weird-- but off we were. I saw Sarah about 100 ahead of me but I Just couldnt surge. Something about my leg speed and my body just doesnt like me. I can keep that pace for 10 miles, but I cant go any faster!! This is definitely something else I Will work on in the off season. Despite a few cramps, I just kept running and doing my best. Sometimes all you can do is give your best. I finished the run with a 6:40 avg pace. Okay its not terrible, I just know I can do better!! I ended up second overall female, and 14 overall, right smack between my current training buddy and my old training buddy. How cool is that? We must rub off on each other or something ;p I have such great friends and I couldnt of made it through this week without them. And when I say Great, I really mean amazing, wonderful, #wordscantdescribe friends. Life is about making friendships, because everyone is in your life at a different time for a reason, and I cant thank them enough for all the love and continued support they have given me.