Haymed.org Triathlon

Yesterday I volunteered my time in the morning to work the Haymed.org
triathlon in Waynesville, NC. The night before I was able to convince
Jennifer to do the race, even though it was calling for rain in the
am. I got her out of bed at 0500, and we made the 1/2 hour drive in
the rain to the race site. While I was busy on the course making sure
that the marshals were in place, and the roads were swept of loose
gravel, Jennifer was busy racing. I made it back from my first task,
to see Jen go off in the pool, 6 laps, or 300 yards, not a long swim
at all. Jen has not been swimming since 2004 IMFL, but she completed
it in a respectable 7 minutes. On the bike course, she posted the
fastest women's time, and 4th fastest overall time men or women,
unbelievable! Her run was 27 minutes, great for not having run since
December! She placed 4th overall woman, 1st in her age group. I was
busy most of the time out on the bike and run course, so I didn't get
to see much racing. I did follow an 11 year old girl on both the bike
and run, and I'm happy to report she finished the race and got the
loudest applause at he awards ceremony. 11 years old and racing
triathlon, amazing!!

Greenville Racing Series

Jennifer and I recently spent three weekends down in Greenville, SC for a series of spring races. The six races were the first real races since her return to racing bicycles this year. We were really happy with the results, she got the overall 5th spot, out of more than 40 women competing. Jennifer, of course, was a little disappointed at first that she didn't do better, but she changed her tune when she realized that she had exceeded her goals coming into the series. The 5th place overall is a payoff of all the long hours she has spent on her bike since early February of this year. Pretty good for such a short time of formal training. Her coach has her doing some sprint training, and standing power rides that are not only fun, but will surely help her improve her finishes. 

The next big race is the weekend of April 4, and I'm considering doing the omnium myself. Being around all of this racing is making me want to do it. I just don't think I can resist. For sure I want to do the Charleston series April 19 & 20th. 

The pictures are just various shots of Jennifer and her squad-mates at the races, enjoy!

Has it really been almost a month since my last post? Wow! School is great right now. I am on a clinical rotation at Mission Hospital in Asheville, on the very same unit that Jennifer works on. I get to see her for a minute in the mornings after she is done giving report to the next shift, and I am getting report from the previous shift. I guess I could actually have to get report from Jennifer one of these days, that would be nice. 

Class is hard, but I think I just barely still have an "A" for the term. The class average on the past few tests has not been great, I can only assume we will be loosing a few classmates to attrition soon. I am enjoying being back in the acute hospital setting more than ever, with complex patients, and really powerful pharmaceutical interventions going on. Some of the drugs we use today are nothing short of amazing. How we ever figured out that this one pill will fix your heart, and not kill you is beyond me. 

I have applied to several units at Mission, and hope to hear back for an interview soon. I can't believe I am going to graduate soon. Oh, and I was chosen by my classmates to give the student address at the RN graduation ceremony. What an honor. I'll have to start working on that one ASAP. 

Here at home, I'm on spring break, and waiting for the weather to cooperate long enough so that I can finish the roofing project I started a Looooooong time ago. 

The picture is a shot of me at the Greenville Bicycle Training Race Series. I was there doing support for my favorite team and rider, BMW Bianchi and Jennifer.