Thursday, June 15, 2006

Race day blunder

This past weekend was the Tejas Triathlon down in Sugar Land. I woke up early thinking about everything I needed to do before I headed out the door. Basically, make sure I had all my gear and was dressed properly. I checked my mental list, thought all was good and left the apartment at 5:30.

As I am driving down the freeway I realize I had forgot my phone. It was in my purse sitting on the kitchen counter. HARRA has been circulating some e-mails cautioning runners about thefts up in Memorial Park so I figured it would be wise not to bring it to a large sporting event. Instead I put a credit card, my driver's license and $20 in my Amphipod pouch and would carry that with me.

The next thing I realized – I forgot my biking shorts. Yes, I know that this is a triathlon event and I should be wearing tri shorts. But, I have not bought any yet! One of these days I will break down and become a "real" triathlete and buy some, but until then I will take my bike shorts on and off and add time to my transitions!

Then, as I was pulling into the parking area, it dawned on me that I had forgotten to check the air in my tires before leaving the apartment. No problem, I will just ask another participant if I could borrow their pump.

I park. I pull the keys out of the ignition and place them on my gear bag. I open the door. I lock the door. I shut the door. I say "Oh shit, I just locked my keys in the car!"

I swear!! I am so frickin' blond it is pathetic!!

I look around for a cop thinking they might have a Slim Jim and be able to help me. Do not see one. Ask a volunteer and he says there were some across the street. I run through the parking area (in sandals), cross the street, see the sheriffs and ask them if they can help me. Nope. They do not carry Slim Jims.

One of the sheriffs called to find out if the Sugar Land fire department opened card doors. Nope.

He then tried to get me a wrecker, but he didn’t think they accepted credit cards and I only had $20 in cash. I waited several minutes, but no wrecker showed up. I was out of luck. Totally SUCKED!! I was dreading the event a little because I hadn’t trained properly. But I was looking forward to getting back into the local tri scene again and competing with my friends.

The only benefit to locking my keys in the car – I was able to watch the race and cheer everyone on! I saw Debi, Dustin, Dan, Consuela, Jamie, Sarah, Monica and many TNT folks who I didn't know. It was fun, and despite my blunder I had a good time.

After the race was over, Debi let me use her cell and I called my insurance company to find out if I had road side assistance. I did and they came and unlocked my car for me. I so love my insurance company!

I so love Debi and Dustin, too. They stayed with me until the guy came to unlock my door. They let me use their phone. And they even bought me a slushie from Sonic. Good friends! This is one of the reason's I started all this. To meet wonderful people like them!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

OK - The good news is, the next time will be so much better.

Sarah said...

That sucks! Also explains why I never saw you. :) I wear bike shorts too -- with a small pad, so I leave them on for the run. But before my next tri I'm going to get tri shorts as well. It'll make me feel cooler, if they don't make me faster. ;)

Mojo said...

Hey- I was looking forward to a tri report! Just kidding! :)

Glad your car got unlocked and got to watch the tri. I love watching too!

KBGee said...

I'm sorry you didn't get a chance to compete, but I'm even happier that you enjoyed the day.