April katsup

I got out of the habit of posting and i know my mom has been waiting for news...  I'm really loving this year's racing.  i'm doing an event every month and have been having So Much Fun.  In Abril we went to Isla Mujeres for a sprint triathlon and a week of vacation for Semana Santa.  the kids got out of school early Friday as SS was starting so the girls and I headed up to Cancun to catch the ferry over and left the boys home as they had a cast party that night (from their Aida production).  We had a number of suitcases/duffles, the bike, boys stuff.  We were PACKED.  since the boys were taking a colectivo and/or bus and we had the van we tried to take as much as we could.  




This is the end of the swim - we started somewhere way out in the brilliant blue after jumping ship. 

You can see the ship in the background and i'm guessing this picture is after we were all on board and heading out to sea.  These are judges and the organizer of the event.






Package pickup was at the ferry terminal, making it super nice for the Canuneses not having to spend the night on Isla but for us that was the whole point.  i had rented a luxury house for a fraction of its usual cost as it was brand new on the market (which reminds me, i need to post a review...).  it had 4BR, 4BA, laundry, garden, terrace and ocean view (though a block away).  It was gorgeous.  Once we got on the island I tried talking the girls into walking to the house but considering we had Little Clue where to go and it heavy luggage I finally put the girls in a taxi and jumped on my bike behind them and raced to the house from the ferry building.  the taxista was very considerate and waited for me when he needed to and we found the place pretty easily.   He definitely earned his tip.


i had the triathlon the next day so i left the girls to sleep in and headed off, not exactly sure where i was going as i had missed the junta the night before and being a little clueless to begin with.  I figured the island was small enough I'd likely run into it at some point on my bike so i just followed my nose.  luckily there are very few roads on Isla Mujeres and i really could NOT have gotten lost.  I headed south and before I knew it stumbled upon the start.  YAY!  This was a really fun event.  It was pirate themed and started by swimming 50 m into a stiff current and then boarding a pirate boat.

)Who's got a white belly???  hanging out at the beach close to our house with the girls before the boys got there.)



The boat finally headed out to sea and WAITERS CAME BY AND SERVED US DRINKS!!! and then we finally made our way to the jumping off point.  Boys jumped off to start the triathlon and like usual, the ladies were last.  anyway it was super fun and gorgeous water but weird currents.  I was hoping be one of the first ones in but once i finally figured out where to land the swim (again, going to the junta would have been a good idea) I was surrounded by females.  After heading out on the bike i was shocked to be told at each bike checkpoint that I was the 2nd female. 

I didn't really expect my lead to stay through the run as absolutely everyone there was younger than me.  i figured the women behind me would likely run me down as my run is, to say the least, not my strong point but i held on and kept watching and watching for someone to blow by me and ended up doing 27 minutes for my run - fastest for me - and took 2nd overall.  the run was GORGEOUS as we ran down the coast the the southernmost point and out onto the rocks and ruins before heading back.  very strangely they didn't award overall but only by category.  go figure - my only chance to win an overall placing and they didn't award overall - just age category.  the afterparty was grand with a lovely catered buffet!!!  i'd come back for this one easy peasy.

The boys showed up a few days later, Monday, and the girls and i spent time walking and playing in the sea.  i managed to get a run and bike pretty much each and every day but could not find a good place to swim, especially as the swimming beach, North Beach, was absolutely STUFFED with everyone on Semana Santa holiday.  i rented a golf cart one day for the kids and they had a grand time exploring with that.  i think the best time was had with them watching TV though - my kids are more sloths than human i think.  :)  Jesse brought his girlfriend over and we didn't drive her crazy insane, so that's good, right? 

We went All Over the island looking for a great beach and ended going to the one we could walk to from our house.  it was beautiful and had great waves for the kids to bodysurf without getting dragged out to sea but the undertow.  Poor Alejandra (jesse's gf) as she is from DF, a landlocked city in a landlocked state, and likely never has been in waves before.  i think he FINALLY clued in towards the end that she was a little uncomfortable and they hung out on the beach while the rest of the crew bodysurfed.  i'm thinking we'll have to go back, maybe summer time...  though there is a 15k run there in august...  maybe jamie and i will pop over there for a nice weekend...