Swim, Bike, Run...oh my

Well, Matt's first race of the season is behind us. We had a busy weekend preparing, enjoying, and reflecting on our time at Maumee Bay State Park. We started off on Saturday morning with a 5-mile walk downtown to get us all moving around and help wear us out so that we could fall asleep around 8:00 that night. We enjoyed the cookie from the little neighborhood bakery, the sites of the various sculptures on the city streets, and watching Goliath chase squirrels in the park. What we weren't expecting was for Goliath to fall face first into a pond. We were strolling through the park when we came to a large pond surrounded by an elevated sidewalk. The top of the pond was covered in green algae, so you could not see into it. Goliath strolls right up to the edge to check it out and I cautioned Matt not to let him too close. Matt, assured me that Goliath would not jump in and the next thing we know, he had gone in head first and disappeared under the surface. Within seconds, his little head came up and Matt was on his knees pulling him out. All we could do was laugh as Goliath staggered around from the shock.

Sunday morning had us starting out at 4:00 in the morning for the trip to Lake Erie and we thought it might rain on and off for most of the race. Luckily, it stopped raining shortly after we arrived at 7:00, but the muggy heat took over. I would have preferred the rain. This was the first time we have been to Maumee Bay and I must say it is a lovely state park. The bugs are huge, but the grounds are wonderful with plenty of bike paths, dunes, and more importantly a swim lake, so you can avoid Lake Erie when the water does not look good.

Matt met up with several of his teammates and we left him alone to get prepared, but caught up with him shortly before the start of the race. There were over 500 participants for the various races and Matt competed in a field of 150, finishing 74th. He looked great coming out of the water and I could tell that all those hours of swim practice paid off. Matt used to look exhausted coming out of the water. This time, he flew right past us on his way to the transition area to get on his bike. He then was able to navigate his way around a small bike pile-up to start his second leg, where he averaged around 20 mph. Once more, we caught up with him as he began his 10K run and he took the time to say "hello." By this time, it was very hot and humid and Goliath and I grabbed shade wherever we could find it. Considering all that he had done, I was surprised to see Matt ran an 8:41 pace, but I don't think he was happy about it. Oh well, he has 5 more races this summer to improve his time. The Sunday after we move, we journey to Caesar Creek State Park. We should be able to sleep in until 5:00 that day!