The return of ANGRY MAN.

I just got back from being cheerleader at the Tall City Tri in Midland, Texas. Husband placed in the Clydesdale division. He asked me if it was different watching one now that I'm training for one, and it was. I'm kind of a bibliophile, so I've been reading, reading, reading; at tris, I walk around watching people. Hmm, he's slapping the water too hard on his stroke. Wasted energy! Hmm, she could have saved a few seconds by getting some of those elastic thingies for her shoes. Not that I would have beaten them....but, it was a new way of looking at things. It was a beautiful day in Midland, and Midland is a nice, nice place to visit. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

On a fun note, ANGRY MAN was there. I first saw ANGRY MAN at the Odessa Tumbleweed Tri where he ran past the judges at the finish screaming about how poorly the course was marked. He was one of the first finishers, but threw a tantrum while his wife stood by quietly, waiting. She did not look surprised. It was all very dramatic. He yelled about how much time he'd lost until he was finally warned about possible penalties and the big D-Q! Then he back-pedaled and apologized. No one else complained about the course; I know, because I was right at the finish with my pom-poms, cheering. In any event, ANGRY MAN was at the Tall City Tri; he came running up to me right after he passed the finish line on the run, which involved running several laps.
"ARE YOU COUNTING THE LAPS THAT PEOPLE MAKE?"
I looked him square in the eye, chewed my gun, and said, "Um, no".
"AREN'T YOU ONE OF THE RACE OFFICIALS?"
"Um, no," I repeated.
"WELL, YOU LOOK LIKE ONE". True, I was standing near the tent for shade, but all the officials were wearing one of the triathlon t-shirts, grass skirts, silly hats and carried 2-way radios. I, instead, was appointed in my supportive wifey ensemble of skort, t-short, cap, and camera. Oh, and a hula-hoop. ANGRY MAN ran off, looking for someone else to ask loud questions at, while wife waited, quietly. I'm fascinated by this. I want to start carrying cards from the counseling center where I work so that I can hand them out to people who are in the throes of road rage. Or tri rage, as in this guy's case.

And, oh, heavens, there were NO competitors in the Athena division in this race! I could have showed up, done a lazy backstroke, a complete change of clothing and maybe a nap at T1 and T2, coasted on my bike to Sonic and had french fries, then ambled past the finish line and still taken first place in the Athena division.

One thing neat about this tri was that it had a separate kids event. At one point, there was a little girl riding long, on her little pink bike (plastic basket, streamers, and coaster brakes) while her watchful parent rode slowly alongside her. I think she even had training wheels. There was also a team that took a prize and consisted of a boy and his two sisters, and all appeared to be under the age of 15. All-in-all, very cool, and lots of eighties music!! The course was mostly flat, with the nice Midland police stopping all local traffic for the bikers.