Okay Chad...this one's for you.....to add to yesterday's post...I'm giving you a visual of the "bonzai" on the butt. This tiny little butt above is not mine--the face is removed to protect me from those who have not give me permission to use the image of their posterior ;)....however, you get the idea. This is an EXACT REPLICA of the cool suit I'm wearing tomorrow. Now...let me tell you about last night's swim at the pool in the wetsuit. Yesterday was cold here. Actually, that's not true...it didn't get cold (60ish and windy) until I headed to the pool about 6:30 pm. I was meeting my friend Anne there for a quick swim in the wetsuits. The plan was to use the outdoor pool to acclimate to the chill, but since it closed at 7:30, I had to book it to make it. Long story short, rolled in the pool about 7:15, ran outside, put on the wetsuit, the entire time the lifeguard is hovering over us saying, "Hurry! You girls you only have 10 minutes!" Talk about PRESSURE. Did I mention it was COLD?? So, the wetsuit is on, I'm standing at the edge of the pool, swim cap and goggles in place wondering how in the heck I got here and why when Anne says, "You gotta just dive in." So I did. The water was so cold that when I hit it I immediately took a deep breath/moaned/cried out/had a panic attack....did I mention I had just DOVE UNDER WATER while trying to all of these things that require you to breathe???? You know...we joke about "practicing drowning" for the race b/c quite frankly, it wouldn't be difficult to do in a choppy bay with 400 of your new closest friends swimming over the top of you....but last nite I honestly for a second PRACTICED DROWNING. I drank enough pool water to kill a small animal from chlorine poisioning. And by the time I caught my breath (which isn't easy to do while swimming laps in freezing water after just having swalled 10 gallons of it!) I was so disgusted at how much pee I had probably drank, that I just couldn't concentrate! It was a loooooonnnnnggggg 7 minute swim, let me tell you. So we eventually got kicked out of the outdoor pool--we went inside to the lap pool only to be stared at like some kind of freaks. My girl, Anne is a warrior, now. She just doesn't care. It's really kind of spooky how composed she remains. Me on the other hand....I'm wrapped in my towel, head down, looking like I just got spanked. Then it happened....I got in the lap pool....took off....and after about 4 lengths....I found it. My rythm. I had forgotten how fast a wetsuit made you swim....how good it felt not to have to kick so hard....how nice it was to float easily with no effort. I gotta say, it made it all worthwhile. So after that short swim, we hopped in the hot tub to stretch and relax. Jumped on the bike for about 10 min., then headed to the hacienda. All in all, not too bad of a nite. I think I kind of remember why I signed up for this.....BONZAI. It not just for Japanese suicide bombers anymore.