There's nothing quite like coming home and heading straight to work after a long vacation. Today started at 5:15 a.m. in Boston, we landed back in Buffalo by nine, and got to work by ten.  I figured that when I got to work, I would have had quite a few things to look at and respond to, but sheesh . . . what a way to kill my vacation zen mode.

Overall, the Cape was a ton of fun this year. We swam quite a lot, which really highlighted just how difficult open-water swimming really is compared to swimming in a pool. It was pretty eye-opening, really. I can comfortably swim 1,000 meters in the pool, but out in the lake it was tremendously more difficult. I'm grateful to have had the chance to experience it prior to race day . . . it would have been a rough surprise otherwise.

Vacation also reinforced just how flat Buffalo really is. Training on the hills in Nickerson, be it running or biking, was ridiculously more difficult than anything I do at home. I have a new appreciation for people who train in the mountains where nothing is ever flat. I also understand why people move out to high-altitude hills: training on those prepares you for anything.

Anyway, I am excited to be back home and to finish out the triathlon training strong. Only two more weeks until the race now! After our Bard Family Triathlon on Saturday (will post about that tomorrow!), I feel a lot better overall about the race . . . and am now more excited than ever for race day.