Triathlon Traditions: Old and New

Well, I can't resist writing about the Triathlon again. After all, it was two weeks ago right now that I was pedaling my bike furiously in the drizzle across the I-90 bridge passing and being passed by other women cycling forward towards the finish line. It was a grand day as I lived the peak of my physical stamina, in awe of what I accomplished.

But, this brings me to Triathlon Traditions; one old and one new this year, one global and one very personal.....

For years, Denny and I have hosted the "night before" high carbo load dinner the Saturday evening before Sunday's Danskin Tri. The menu is always the same: he makes his famous spaghetti with meat sauce, sweet corn, Caesar salad, garlic bread and for dessert (my contribution) blackberry cobbler made with berries from Discovery Park. This year we celebrated in the same style with four generations of family. We were fortunate to have Laura's boyfriend handy to take the family photograph in the living room after the meal. He took a number of shots but in all of them there is always someone either blocked from view or in motion as they try to hang onto the lively three year old boys. That's what makes the photographs all the more precious. Here we are, all nineteen of us with Mom and Dad in the center of it all.

And now for the new (and personal) tradition. I purchased a new lip gloss the day before the Triathlon. Slim, gorgeous color, easy to apply.....and best of all, a good place to keep it at the ready for just the right moment. I had the lip gloss as part of my "T-2" gear along with my racing belt and sunglasses (which were not required on that cloudy day) carefully arranged for a timely pickup at the end of the bike leg. After racking my bike and losing the helmet, I donned the race belt with my official number and slipped that Wet n Wild Mega Slicks "Red Sensation" into the rear pocket of my Zoot Tri suit. The pockets are designed for small essentials like keys, carbohydrate gel packs and the like but a lip gloss fits in there just fine. You laugh? Go ahead. I knew just when and how this lip gloss would be applied; just after the huge hill and before the last quarter mile before the finish line.*** And so, a tradition is born. I want to always cross that line with my lips glowing.


***not all that crazy. Check out the book by Geralyn Lucas entitled Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy