The wind beneath my eagle wings

All checked in and ready to go tomorrow at Eagleman! My number is #1859, and it may be possible to "watch" me in more or less real time if they have the athlete tracker working.

Today all the talk was about the wind. Around noon when I went to check out the swim course, it was averaging about 15-20 mph with gusts to 28 mph. That was bad news. There was a strong current, whitecaps, and waves hitting the pilings hard enough to splash over the decking. No one was practicing the swim exit, that's how tough the conditions were. Fortunately on the other side of the peninsula in the lee it was fairly calm and I had about a ten-minute reasonably comfortable swim. The water temperature was perfect! My training buddy David did point out a single sea nettle, and I told him, "I didn't need to see that!"

Then it was off to packet pickup and bike check, which went smoothly, except for two minutes of panic because I accidentally left my number packet at the chip check station.

The biggest line was simply to enter the transition area! They had just one woman checking off all the numbers as we filed in.

I learned to my delight that I was assigned the WORLD'S BEST rack spot. Not only will Buttercup enjoy this nice water view this afternoon, I'm directly adjacent to the pro racks (so I can drool over some nice equipment in the morning) and I'm the closest regular rack to the bike exit and re-entry point - so that means I have the shortest route for running on bike shoes of all the racks! Yay!

At the pro forum someone asked Natascha Badmann how she handles riding into the wind. She said that, since this is Eagleman, she envisions herself as an eagle flying easily into the wind. I thought that was a lovely visualization and I'll carry it with me tomorrow to use when I need it most.