You know you’re a triathlete when your “marathon taper-week” looks suspiciously similar to your 70.3 training.

The first step is admitting it, right?

Last week was the final Mad Dogs Wednesday night swim at Pass-a-grill beach. I’ve really enjoyed these swims all summer and didn’t want to miss the last one. As soon as I got there I ran into Caroline. I had no idea she was going to be there so it was nice to have a buddy for the swim.

The water was cooler than its been all year and much calmer than it’s been in a while. The sun was setting as we got into the water which made for an absolutely beautiful skyline during the swim.

The 1-mile swim took 35 minutes 5 seconds. My first 1-mile swim out there three months ago took me 41 minutes 11 seconds. I’m really glad to be able to show that much of an improvement.

I’m going to miss Wednesday night swims. Can’t wait till next year!

Saturday was the Cystic Fibrosis Cycle for Life ride. It was a 25, 55 or 75 mile ride to benefit the CF Foundation.

I registered and raised money for the 55-mile event with a few other Tampa Bay Lady Bloggers, Beth, Caroline and Jess.

Caroline picked me up at dark-o-clock and we made our way out to the Longleaf Center New Port Richey. There were about 90 riders registered between the three distances.

Caroline, Jess and I decided to do the ride 55-mile together. A few minutes after 7:30am we began the ride. The route took us 4 miles down a road along side traffic before bringing us into Starkey Park. I am familiar with Starkey Park and the Suncoast Parkway and was glad to see that this was where the remainder of the ride would be.

Jess, Caroline and I took the ride at a leisurely pace and chatted the whole time.

The winds were somewhere in the 20mph range so parts of the trail were a bit difficult depending on which way the wind was blowing. There were a few times I wished I had a heavier bike when a huge gust of wind would blow me from side to side. I nearly dropped my bike once. That wasn’t so fun.

We got off the bikes at all 3 of the rest stops (6-stops total).

The support along the course was awesome. They had tables of snacks, Gatorade, soft drinks, candy and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I brought my own nutrition with me. During the ride I had a packet of chomps, a cliff bar and a Gu. I also had some pretzels at one of the aid stations.

Around mile 40-45 is when we all started to complain. Taking it at a leisurely-conversational pace meant a lot more time in the saddle. And we all know what that means… Let’s just say, sitting on an itty-bitty bike seat for more than 4-hours is not the most comfortable thing in the world.

The ride took us about 4:45 minutes. Both Caroline and Jess set new personal distance records (PDRs) on the ride that day. Nice work ladies!

We hung around for a little while after at the post-race festivities before heading back to St. Pete.

Thanks for a great time CF Cycle for Life!

**Also, thanks to Caroline for a lot of these photos!