You ARE a Pumpkin-woman!

One of my absolute favorite things to do is race.  Like I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY like it.  Like really.  So when, a few weeks back, my coach asked me if I wanted to race Pumpkinman Half in Maine, he didn't even get the full sentence out before I was signed up.  Yes sir!

Pumpkinman is a pretty awesome race.  Kat, the race director, takes care of all the details as if it's a big WTC affair, yet it still very much has a local, low key feel to it.  The best of both worlds!

Plus, this is the post race meal.  No lies.  Full on Thanksgiving dinner that was SO FREAKING GOOD.  I legitimately  would have done the race all over again if it meant I got to get back in line for seconds.  Don't lie, you all want to do the race now too.

I swam well (for me) and finally got myself under 30 minutes again.  The swim might have been a bit short, but at the very least, I felt like myself again in the water.  Wing is coming around just in time.  Then I rode really hard.  I was given the go ahead to go at it on the bike and, trust me, you don't have to tell me that twice!  At one point I thought to myself "you DO still have to run after this, so maybe we need to back it down a notch".  Still, I felt good and strong.  The cycling legs are coming around.  And finally, I got to really enjoy the run which was the best part.  I cheered for people, I thanked volunteers and I smiled.  It was a fun day.

You do have to run up this into T1.  There are actually prizes for the fastest times.  Let it be known, I was in NO danger of winning one of these prizes.

It was a wet, chilly day but New Englanders are tough and I didn't hear any complaints.  I kinda couldn't feel my feet at this point on the bike.

When I was finishing I heard a woman scream "You ARE a Pumpkin-woman!".  Not sure how I feel about that.

You might notice that I'm wearing the race shirt on the day of the race.  In general this is a no-no, but when one doesn't bring enough warm clothes, one is very, very thankful for the awesome long sleeve, hooded race shirt and will break all the rules to keep warm.

I really hope I get to return to Pumpkinman next year!  I highly recommend it as a nice end of the season half or in preparation for a fall IM.  Indeed, that's what I used it for.  IM Chattanooga here we come!