"Fall" paddle festival

My turn!

Big start of costume relay


My team!


"Fall" in quotes because we've had near-record heat here in the Tampa Bay area....and I love it! The paddle festival was in the calendar for me as my second attempt at an SUP race. That is, until we got up and did a bike ride earlier in the morning on Saturday. Woke up to 10-20mph winds which made riding a chore and I promptly pulled the pin on the "fun" race for the weekend. Mostly because I can't afford to miss a week of swimming for a "fun" race. We went to cheer on friends who were doing their first SUP race. Ended up, they modified the course and didn't go off-shore but, it was fun to spectate. I still remember how sore I was after the last (only) SUP race and felt I couldn't afford a week out of the pool! After all, we have one more triathlon left this season, Key West Tri in December. I did, however, get "recruited" to do the costume relay with guys I've never met. This, my friends, was FUN! Imagine......10 or so teams of SUP riders going 100meters out and back. Teams were 3-4 people (ours was 3). One comes in, runs around a flag on the beach, hands off the paddle to the next paddler and off they go (assuming the other teammate turned the board around in time). Total mayhem but maximum fun! I'll let the photos tell the story. FUN.
We have trail half marathon next weekend, part of the Xterra trail series. Should be fun, I luv running trails!
Cheers.