Beam Me Up Scotty...It's Soggy Down Here!!!

This morning I woke up bright and early...and could hear the rain pelting my bedroom window. Yesterday I had figured it would be a trainer day for me and the rain confirmed it. I ate a naner (banana that would be), grabbed a bottle of water and trudged down to the dungeon.

What can I say about it all? I biked for an hour and a half. In my basement. In June. Sigh...


It was a good workout, but not the same as being outside. It did give me some quiet time to pedal and focus on what I want to feel like on the ride at IMCDA, so that's a bonus.


I was excited about the rest of the day though - I was going to Vulcan to cheer on some friends in the sprint triathlon there. For one of them, Keith, this would be his first ever triathlon! I won't be able to go to his second, or now first, triathlon which is a half Ironman because I'll be racing down south. So I really wanted to be there for him today. For another, Kelsey, it would be her second triathlon. I was headed out there to be roving reporter, photographer and cheerleader. I even had pom-pom's. Yay! One guess what colour?! PURPLE!!!! Totally predictable, I know. I like to think my obsession with purple is an endearing quality I have?


I headed over to Keith and Linda's so I could carpool with them. I also wanted to talk to him about the race, quickly go over his checklist with him and just make sure he was ok.


When we left Calgary it was overcast and a wee bit rainy. As we made our way towards Okotoks, the rain seemed to have stopped. This is about when I nodded off, as I'm apt to do in planes, trains and automobiles...


I awoke after who knows how long and asked the usual question, 'Are we there yet?' Keith said yes, and that's when my eyes focused and I looked out the window to see this....

I strained through the rain covered window to see the landmark of Vulcan - the spaceship. When I moved to Alberta I was amazed to learn there was a town named Vulcan. For some reason it came as a shock that the tourist information centre is in the shape of a spaceship. Really though, what the heck else would a town named after something in Star Trek have?!

We drove up to the race, found a skookum parking spot, then hung out to see if the rain would subside. I gotta tell ya, it ain't easy sitting in a car with torrential rain pelting down all around, water gushing from the eaves of the nearest house and having to go pee. 'Don't think about water, don't think about water.'

We finally decided to brave the rain and get Keith registered. I wasn't more than a few steps when the rain seeped into my beloved Converse sneakers. Rats! Man, was it ever wet out! We just got to the registration booth as the race director, pictured at right, was announcing the race had been called due to the poor weather. Major bummer!!

I must say, Keith took the news very well. I felt bad for him as I know he was pumped about this. It was a good decision though as our hands were getting numb just standing there. We found Kelsey right after and told her the news. It turns out she'd just heard as well. Ah well, at least we could get a group shot of us out there!

We hung out for a while, then agreed there was a need for some tea and grub. We ended up at a great little tea house in Okotoks where I had a most brilliant cup of blueberry tea and cup of carrot ginger soup. Mmmm...

I think I've finally warmed up and my wee toes are no longer shriveled from being soaked in my sneakers! I was okay with the fact that I didn't have to stand in the rain to watch, especially since I was soaked from just being out there for a short time. However, there is one thing I'm totally bummed out about...

I was super stoked about being a cheerleader. I LOVE cheering on athletes - to the point that I lost my voice when I was cheering on the competitors at Ironman Canada 2006. Cheering on my friends would have been even better, especially as I had my brand new pom-pom's. I even had a little cheer for Keith and Kelsey. It kinda went like this...

FRICKA, FRACKA, FIRECRACKER, SHISH, BOOM, BAHHHH! GO KEITH! GO KELSEY! RAH, RAH, RAAAAAAAH!

This cheer, of course, would have ended with several high kicks, and hopefully no pulled hamstrings doing the kicks! I got to do my cheer for Keith and Linda when we were back in the car, but I didn't get to show him or Kelsey my final act.

So guys, just for you I tried to recreate what I had planned to do at the race. The big finale, after the cheer, and after the high kicks was to be a big 'K'! Sorry I couldn't do it in person! It would have been difficult with an umbrella and knowing my luck I would have flown away like Mary Poppins!

Peace out my friends!