I have not been running in 5 weeks. Probably the longest I have gone without running in 5+ years. I have been in an air cast for nearly 4 weeks. Next Monday I get new x-rays and we will see if I am healing, or, hopefully, healed.
The last two weekends I volunteered at the Gear West Duathlon and the Apple Duathlon. The volunteering has been a great experience. My new girlfriend volunteered with me, she does not do triathlons or duathlons. She appeared to really enjoy the experience. Which I was very glad to see and made the experience more enjoyable.
At the GW Du we worked the timing at the finish, so we got to see the finish of most athletes. The women's finish was great, decide by less than a thousandths of a second. At the Apple Du we were the sag wagon. Had to go out in my little wagon and get people if they flatted out. We only had to pick up one person. It was great feeling to help someone, and I am glad we could do it. Since we were working the sag wagon, and there was only one flat, we got to watch a lot of the start and fair amount of the bike.
Watching both races was a great learning experience. Watching elite triathletes race and transition is both inspiring and good lesson how things are done. Watching people like me, average triathletes, people out there for the first time, is also very inspiring and a great learning experience. It is amazing to watch people of all shapes, sizes, ages, abilities, push themselves. To see people in their 50s, 60s, and 70s racing gives me hope for my own future, and the future of others.
Now, all that being said about volunteering and watching and how great it is, at the same time it is still torture. I really want to get back out and race.