Breathtaking Beauty- enough about the beast!

The days leading into the St Croix half ironman were spent exploring the island and soaking up the sun and atmosphere. It was such a beautiful place and I did manage to get in a few tune up workouts, other than snorkeling.

Pt Udall the most eastern tip of the US

Rather than ride my bike along the race course, which seemed a little redundant (not to mention the fact that I missed a turn) I rode out to the most eastern tip of the US. This monument was built in 2000 to commemorate the millennium. It has a sun dial and has shadows line up with the pillars at certain times of the year. I was fascinated by all of this shadow stuff so I took my own picture.

Noon, pretty sure I will be out on the race course at this time!

The swim leg of the race was held in an active boat harbor, you know with boats coming and going, boats with motors with propellers on them. My common sense and the fact that the race forbid us to swim in the harbor outside designated times, meant I had to go to a scheduled swim session. Mostly, I saw this as just another chance to spend time in the amazingly clear bath tub like water. Normally, I would go for a short swim, but this time I swam the course. I did this for two reasons. One, it was so fun and beautiful. Two, I couldn't figure out a way to cut it short once I was following the buoy line.

Swim course in the background

Race morning we swim out to this island to wait for the start

Beach on Buck Island

I even took a nice little run one day down a dirt road from the condo we were staying in to a private beach. Is it considered a brick workout that I went in the water and then got out and continued my run? My own private aquathon.