A Race to Tahoe
Monday Jamie found a race in Lake Tahoe for the following weekend, and Tuesday she booked it. By Wednesday I had found an outdoor Shakespeare theater, and on Thursday we found the perfect place for dog paddle boarding. When Friday happily came around, we strapped Jamie's bike to the car and loaded Boo into the backseat. We were Tahoe bound before we knew it, looking forward to a last minute weekend getaway.
Our weekend (especially for me) was stress free and in a different pace than our usual weekend getaways. Instead of doing everything we could, we found ourselves sitting in the afternoon at her boss' cabin, putzing around with Boo, and food prepping. After dinner we drove to Sand's Harbor, purchased a mango mojito, and watched Macbeth as the sun set on the opposite side of the lake. Purple and pink hues of dusk filled the sky as stage fog danced around the performers.
Sunday morning was Jamie's race, and it was gorgeous. We drove to Lake Donner, and I found a patch of sand to sit on as she waded into the cool lake water. She swam 1 mile (37:25 minutes), biked 25 (01:47:46), and ran 6.5 (01:03:57) for a total time of 03:34:14. In many ways, Jamie got a taste of competitiveness that she longed for. She came in 33rd out of 66 women at the finish line, and that was not good enough. The Lake Donner Triathlon gave birth to a determination to be on the podium before too long, and since then, she has been looking into more races to improve her time that much more!
After the thrill of the race, we grabbed Boo and headed to her first paddle board session. Boo bounded along the rocky shore and dipped her belly and nose into the clear lake waters, not knowing soon she would be floating on them. As a dog that loves water, it was obvious she did not like being in deep waters. She clung to the board as if each wave was going to tip her over. After a while she grew comfortable, though one could argue whether or not it grew enjoyable for her. It was adorable to see her so uncertain, and she pawed the water to analyze the depth. As we sailed closer to the shore, she let loose and nose dived into the water, paddling herself to safety.
