2nd Abu Dhabi Triathlon Divided by Three

Last year one of my big milestones on my milestone birthday year was to do the Abu Dhabi triathlon - which I did but didn't feel the need to do again on a non-milestone birthday year.  But I do enjoy the swim.  So a friend of mine and I decided to recruit some cyclists and runners so we could do relay teams and just do the swim.  Her team fell apart so it ended up just being me doing the swim but my runner (Jake!), my cyclist (a good friend's husband who has now become a friend as well) and I did the 2012 Abu Dhabi International Triathlon this morning.  The distance of my swim was twice as long as the one last year and I really had a good time.  Our team finished 18 out of 36 relay teams in the middle distance race (1.5km swim, 100K bike and 10K run).  My team-mates were very instrumental in pulling us up as I was no where near 18th place after the swim.  I felt very good about my swim time though!

I didn't get any pictures of me suited up (my swim was early so I just headed there on my own as watching an ocean swim is not exactly riveting as a spectator!).  I came home after the swim, showered and then we headed back out for the bike to run transition.  The girls and I played on the playground (with a view of the runners) and ate pizza outdoors (also overlooking the last leg of the run).  We were able to see Jake going out and coming in.  The weather was *much* better this year - mid-70s instead of of 95.  I sure would have liked the mid-70s temperature last year when I did the whole thing but was very glad for Jim and Jake that they had pretty good weather for their legs (although the last 1/2 of the bike ride was pretty windy for Jim).

It's a lovely swim course right off the Corniche Beach (it was at Emirates Palace last year which logistically is a little harder to get to), the bike course goes out to Yas Island and around the Formula One race track and the bike is along the Corniche and out to a promenade with a lovely view of downtown.

We had enough fun that we're planning to do it again next year (I've already got a new time goal for my swim).

Two-thirds of our team. This was taken before Jake's run but well
after my swim (you can still see my numbers on my arm)

It is truly amazing how close (and low) the helicopters fly to the buildings
as they follow the professional athletes around the course.
They really make me nervous!