Jumping right in

I competed in my first swim race today. It was a 4 x 400 relay with my team at the multisport expo. I don't remember being this nervous for a race since my first half ironman. I was swimming the second leg behind my coach, Christina.

Going in, I started getting worried that all of the other competitors would be former collegiate swimmer, with their diving starts from the blocks, their flip turns, their completely shaved bodies.

Watching the first leg, I felt a little better, there were a variety of levels present, and our lane actually looked pretty competitive. My turn. Oh, I don't dive in. I'm not a swimmer... I'm a triathlete.

This sort of swimming is almost serene relative to tri swimming. No one swimming into me, over me, through me, no one even in my lane. And no one to pace off of. It's hard to see the people in the next lane. I knew there was a girl about a half a length ahead of me from the start, but I quickly lost track of her. No sounds from the pool penetrate, just the sounds of my breathing.

But it goes fast. 4 laps to go, 3, 2. Oh, there's that girl who was half a lap ahead of me. She looks, closer. Last lap, push it. I come into the far wall, just as she's leaving. I'm gaining. Sprint, Sprint, SPRINT! Catch her!... Got her! Right on the wall. Hell, yeah.

I finished in 6:02. That's 1:30s per 100. Faster than my previous 200s pace by 4 seconds. Our team came in 2nd in our heat, and 4th overall, we think. Not bad for our first showing.

Having fun in Vegas without losing (much) money

Paul had a conference in Vegas at the beginning of last week, so we figured, since he already had free flights we might as well make a vacation out of it. I flew out on Wednesday night, and we took the next four days to explore Sin City. Here's what we found.

1. It can be a little overwhelming when it feels like every one is trying to separate you from your money. Not just the gambling, but there are coupons and discounts for shows and meals, constantly pressuring you to buy now and not miss out on a terrific bargain.

2. Despite this we found plenty of things worth spending our money on. We really enjoyed Le Reve, which was like Cirque du Soleil (but not Cirque du Soleil) but in a pool, with synchronized swimming and diving, and trapezes and people being lifted out of the water on trapezes, then diving back in. Pretty spectacular. We also had a few really good meals out at B&B and La Cave.

3. On Friday, we rented a car and drove out to Red Rock Canyon. There, we hiked and climbed and took our only pictures of the trip.

The rocks

Rock striations (do you see the person on the ridge?)

Paul is making these rocks look small, in reality, they are very far behind him, and VERY big

There we are.

Calico rocks.