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4:30 wake-up call for swim practice - $0
Five shot Venti Americano after practice - $3.19
Relaxed drive to work listening to loud Jimi Hendrix - $.75
One on one coaching for an hour by an Olympic gold medalist coach - Priceless!

10-15-05 The Lake Travis Relay

The day started out great. During our Friday night swim I made it to the dam for the first time. I knew that my swimming was improving and was excited about the relay today. I had planned on sleeping in a bit but woke up at 4:00 am. My good friend Bill Speed volunteered his 50 foot houseboat for the relay and the weather was perfect. I just could not wait to get on Bill's houseboat.

Our team was Gracie Alvarado, Gracen Duffield, Sharon Kerr, Janet McQuaid, Lynne Smith, and me. The only person that I knew prior to today was Lynne. I did not know what to expect but knew that we would have fun. Gracen was our leader. She is very organized and is not afraid to take charge. In an event like this you need someone with Gracen's skills or the thing will implode.

Since I was awake at 4:00, I went to the grocery store to get a few things to make our day more fun. Bill informed me that he did not have any food on the boat, but did have enough beer. I also needed to get a sports page so that Bill could make weekend investment choices. I was able to get stuff for fajitas, several types of salsa, venison sausage(from Zoe Ann) and a pie (from Zoe Ann), coffee, bottled water, chips and other odds and ends. I knew that we would have the best boat. I wanted to be sure that we made full use of our equipment.

I arrived at Bill's boat around 6:20. Bill was up and had a pot of coffee already made. Just after I unloaded all the food Gracen called. She was right on time. Gracen and Gracie showed up right at 7:00 and unloaded their stuff. At 7:15 Bill and I cast off and head for the start.

It was just beautiful to watch the sunrise over the lake with a light fog lifting off the water. The race had not started and we had already won. Bill and I arrived at the start a little early. Lynne called and said "is that big boat the one you are on?" and started laughing. We were playing country music on the XM radio and sitting up top drinking coffee. PERFECT! As we waited for the team to arrive I could see Gracen on shore with her orange feather hat. Gracen is shy. NOT!

Lynne swam out to the boat to get her official swim cap as she was our first swimmer. Lynne came on board and had a cup of coffee while we waited for the start. We were not able to get the rest of the team on board prior to the start as the other boats consumed all the dock space. I don't think that anyone was count on a 50 foot houseboat.

Lynne gave us a strong start and everyone swam well. We were not a team of ringers out to set a record, but a team of swimmers that swim for fitness and recreation. We were there to have fun and that we did. Gracen took care of all the details and even had two back up systems for the stopwatch. Bill took car care of the boat driving and safe swimmer exchange. With Gracen and Bill doing all the work, the rest of us just swam and had fun.

The swim went well. Everyone swam strong. From time to time we all got a little of course, but a blast from Bill's air horn and some pointing from the crew got us back on course. As we entered the cove for Hurst Harbor, I got a call from Sandy Nelson. She asked "are you OK? Where are you?" I almost laughed at her question. We were grilling fajitas, eating pie, listening to XM radio, watching the longhorn vs. Colorado game on TV, and swimming in Lake Travis on a perfect day. We could not get any better!

I really enjoyed getting to know the team and spending the day with them. Special thanks to Gracen and Bill for all of their work. It was a good event, with good people, on a day with good weather.

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