WIND Aquathon

15 Apr: (WIND Triathlon Aquathon) As I drove west toward White Sands Missile Range, sight of the Wind Triathlon I mused that normally it’s difficult to tell by the flora that the wind is blowing as you drive at 70mph, even if you know it is. Today, the bushes danced crazily and the grass growing in pavement cracks bent to the ground. A wall of white sand billowed in the sky to my right, another sure sign of wind. Arriving at the race sight, all the bikes crowded on one of the two long wood-and-metal racks – because the other refused to stand upright, even with several bikes holding it down. Race directors cancelled the bike portion and lengthened the run to spread out racers before they entered the water for the swim. My smile grew – I haven’t biked in a month, but I know I can run and swim. Or at least I thought I could – I had trouble not getting blown off the road or tripping over my own feet as the airborne one got blown into the earthbound one whenever I had a crosswind while running, not to mention the challenge of keeping forward momentum into the wind for the moments in each stride when nothing is touching the ground. Less than an hour later, most racers had finished and organizers were considering calling it the “Calm, Cool, Sunny Triathlon” next year…