Volunteering, part II

Loooooonnnnnnnnggggggg day.  Granted, I didn't have to be up and at lakeside at 6am like a lot of the athletes, but I still got to North Glenmore park (T2, and the finish line) at 9am (after grabbing a 6-shot latte and turkey bacon egg sandwich at Starbucks) and didn't walk back in my door until 6pm. 

There is so much behind the scenes stuff at these races...I am humbled by the volunteers that work tirelessly to set up and then tear it all back down again in a matter of hours.  I did end up with a few spots of sunburn (I always seem to forget or miss somewhere - today the back of my knees), and I am still very warm to the touch (it hit +29C today, without a cloud in the sky!), and my hands are swollen from all the clapping, but the athletes totally deserved it!  They are all hardcore from the winners to the woman that ran in on her own, a good half hour after they closed the finish line, and to the cheers and clapping from everyone still on the sidelines, including the people that won!!

Top Male...under 4 hours!  A-MAZING!

 Top female coming in...roughly 20-30 minutes after the guys.  She looks good here, but as soon as she stopped moving, she had to be carried off to medical, as did the 2nd and 3rd place women...they took it hard today!

See those fences and signage...that's all me, baby!!!  I put those bad-boys up and have the bruise to prove it (dropped a section on my hand, but it's all good today...just pretty colours!).

My friend M.F. just a few hundred meters from the finish line.  Said he had a hard run (it was stinking hot) but I think he looks great.

My reward for hanging out and helping tear things down and pack things up.  It's just not fair that everyone bails and leaves a crew of 4-5 to do it all.  My mama raised me better then that!  I also came home with a case of Ironman Power-Bar juice stuff!

As I was driving home and coming to the realization that I was hungry (breakfast at 9 and the egg salad sandwich at 2 was long gone by now), I determined that I didn't want anything hot at all, or anything that I had to cook.  Usually that would mean a visit to a drive-through, but I stopped at a local grocery store (Sobeys) and picked up some mixed veggies meant to grill (orange and yellow pepper strips, carrot coins, zucchini rounds and pea pods), which I ate raw out of the package, and some grilled chicken salad (chicken was chopped with celery, onion, red pepper and mayo) and some whole wheat tortillas to wrap it in.  Oh, and a small chocolate milk!  I am satisfied and so ready for bed!  If only I could cool down a bit...I am generating heat right now, and it's not at all pleasant. 

Only plans for tomorrow (holiday Monday here in Alberta) will be to cut the grass, haul the recycling, drop in on Mom and boot camp.  Maybe I'll even sleep in a little.  And it's supposed to be cooler...yay!  I don't do heat very well.

Later,