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September 1, 2007
Quick hits from Beth on Race Day eve
Hello all. It's O again. Here's some highlights from some of the emails that Beth has sent me:
...but i don't think i told you about my freezing cold swim in the Alster River!!! it was about 50 degrees air temp, raining and generally miserable when we went over. i quickly got my wetsuit on and just jumped in, no other way to do it. OH MY!!!! So cold it takes your breath away!!! and you think that the allegheny river in Pittsburgh is dirty?!?! no way man - this water was BLACK!!! oh so gross. the water temp is in the low 60s.
the parade of nations last night was kind of a dud! it was cold and raining so not as well attended as usual i think. also, germany chose not to make it a parade so much as a presentation. it was kind of cool and there were fireworks but with the weather it was a little cold and miserable too. oh well! there were some funny antics between countries though. those crazy aussies tried to get this big blow up kangaroo in our US team picture!!
so we went to watch the under 23 womens championships this afternoon (FRIDAY). awesome!!! it was the first draft legal race ive seen in person. so cool. they do multiple loops on both the bike and run so the spectators can see the racers frequently. it was so exciting because a girl from the US led out of the water and then broke away from the main pack on the bike. she had about a minute lead off the bike but a girl from sweden slowly started whittling the lead away on the run. she probably had fresher legs because she was in a big bike pack drafting while the us girl was working all alone up front! i guess that was the risk the us girl took....to try to get away and hold on...but by the 2nd of 3 laps on the run the girl from sweden got her! the us girl held on for 2nd and this crazy girl from hungry ran like a maniac all the way to the bronze. i swear she got off the bike in about 15th place...not even in the top bike pack. she was flying (35:11). both the winner and the us girl in 2nd got handed flags as they came down the finish chute and celebrated big and it was just really neat to watch. and what awful conditions they had! it was cold and raining for the majority of the race. im surprised there werent many bike crashes because the roads were wet and they were riding on cobblestones, etc...
And, Sunday morning's the big race day. For those of you die hards, she will start around 3:30 AM eastern time and finish before 6AM. Beth said the results should be posted at the ITU Website.
As for me, I'm getting fired up for the first PSU football game of the year today. They play Florida International. The running joke this week is people are asking if Florida International is a college or airport!!! PSU should have an easy time with them, but I will be curious to see how Anthony Morelli (the QB) starts out his senior year. The offensive and defensive lines had to be somewhat rebuilt, but the rest of the team looks pretty solid. We'll see how it goes this fall and if they can find a way to win a Big Ten Championship.
With Beth away, I'm taking Roxy the dog down to my parents and all of us are heading down to Frederick, Maryland to visit my sister and her husband. While we're there, we are going to watch a Frederick Keys minor league baseball game. They're taking on the Winston-Salem Warthogs. I'm a big fan of minor league baseball and I can't wait. I think the reason I like minor league baseball is because the Pirates have been bad for so long that I have to keep looking to the future to give me hope for the organization.
For the minor leagues, here's some of the teams that Beth and I have seen (what unique names):
Altoona Curve
Buffalo Bison
Toledo Mudhens
Salem Avalanche
Lynchburg Hillcats
Akron Aeros
Harrisburg Senators
Hickory Crawdads
Bowie Baysox
Erie Seawolves
It's fun to watch these guys hustle and work hard and follow their progress to see if they can make it to the major leagues.
Well, wish Beth good luck and I'm sure she'll call me on Sunday. I'll try to get some info up Sunday, but I'll be travelling to Frederick. Be sure to check the ITU Hamburg website. Beth will be home Monday afternoon and I'm sure she'll have tons to blog about Monday night and Tuesday.
Happy Labor Day Weekend! Go Beth, Go! Go PSU!
Posted by beth at September 1, 2007 9:16 AM
Comments
Hey O. Thanks for the wonderful news. You are quite a "husbanding" inspiration. Take care. Go Beth, GO! All the way!
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at September 1, 2007 2:23 PM