I took the plunge!!

The alarm buzzed annoyingly at 4:28 a.m. and I knew I HAD to get up. Of course, I always get up for my workouts but today was different. There was No time for dosing 10 more minutes. I love those 10 extra minutes. But today my little brother was meeting me at the lake for our first taste of fresh Maine lake water. I convinced little bro to do this with me. He is racing at Mooseman next week too and I reminded him that we did Not want to donn our wetsuits for the first time this year on race day. He agreed. He also growled, "I am not liking you for this Ange." :-) I knew he'd thank me later. Isn't that what big sisters are for?
We met at 5:15 at the lake which is 30" from our homes. The sun was up but not yet over the trees. The air temp, 41. Woah. The water would be Warmer than the air. Jeff and I usually meet earlier than the Tri group because of work schedules. The next gang was due to arrive at 6:00. But there was another man there early today who decided to go with us. The guy had a sleeveless suit! I was worried for him.
We were on a time schedule so there was No time to sit around and moan about how cold we thought it would be. Just Go!
You know what? It was gorgeous. Beautiful. Refreshing! I loved it.
We swam about 200 yards and then there was a break in the tree line and the sun poured through. It was so warm on my face. The water was calm and clear. There's something powerful about swimming through a lake when not a soul is around. Jeff was a few strokes ahead of me and our new swimmer friend was a bit behind us. So it felt like I was breaking through a sheet of glass. It was just as I remembered it from last year. Just the Perfect way to start the day.
We swam to the point which is .5 miles from our start. At that point we had to wait a little while for our new friend. We don't like to leave people out in hte lake alone so we didn't head back until he was ready to make the turn too. I had time to yank the sleeves up on my wetsuit. My shoulders feel so restricted in these suits. I really have to adapt my stroke. It's much different than the pool.
We swam back at a good strong pace. I tried to draft off Jeff for a bit but he was just too fast. It was fun to try though.
When we were almost back, a long line of swimmers were coming our way. They were spread out across 50 yards or so. It was a cool sight. I said good bye to little Bro (who did, by the way, Thank me) and turned around to swim back to the point again.
The morning was a success. I was pretty chilled after but it didn't take long to warm up. It was no way near as painful as I expected it to be. It was downright fun actually. We triathletes have a different opinion of fun sometimes I think.
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I shifted gears, ran in the door, quickly changed my clothes, washed my face, brushed the kids hair, made their lunches, read a book, packed their bags and drove them to school. From there I headed to the grocery store with Nick. He was stylin' with his Thomas the train bike helmet and polo shirt backwards. :) Ahh to be 4. The little guy was NOT happy about our store trip. He wanted to ride his new bike. So, while I was getting my stuff together as I got out of the car, he gently pushed the door shut in an effort to show me his anger. Instead, I got to show him mine.
He locked the keys in the car!!! And my phone. And my wallet. All of it. So much for the perfect morning.
We got lucky because there was a nice guy at the car dealership next door who helped us unlock it with his low-tech tools. phew. We brought him a dozen doughnuts to say Thank you. There are still Good Samaritans out there. I was so happy to find one. Now I'm back to my Perfect morning feeling.
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Later, I have to do a 60 minute bike ride...HARD. My HR zone for the ride is high. ~150 bpm. ouch. I'm a bit nervous but at the same time, know I'll feel so great when it's all done.

Happy Friday to you!! I love short weeks.