Jan 17, day 1 at Curacao

Here is proof that we don't just sit around and drink beer all day... the photo is a group of us drinking coffee at 7 AM. We swam 2000 meters in the big pool before breakfast! For breakfast I had cold salmon slices, cheese, some nut bread, bread pudding, a banana, a boiled egg, adn a bowl of fruit. For some reason the pancakes and scrambled eggs did not appeal to me. Irene and

Andy showed us their collection of vitamins!

After swim and breakfast, the rest of the group (who did not arrive a day early) had to put their bikes together so there was no morning bike ride. I took that time to get out of the sun! We rode in the afternoon, in the hear of the day... my bike computer was a casualty of the airport so I do not have actual mileage to report--everyone elses's computers read anywhere from 13.6 to 16.2 miles, so I'll call it 15 miles. The 11 of us that chose to ride sweated our butts off! It is a beautiful place to ride! Ocean vistas and rolling hills.

At 4:30 PM we had our first organized open water swim, and I do mean open water--we were outside the lagoon in the sea... I did not freak out, and managed to swim the 1700 meter loop. Our swim coaches are Boris and Vlad, who both grew up in the old Russian National Swim program. They have some good suggestions for lenthening my stroke... We had pizza and beer at a welcoming dinner that was much fun. I retired to my room and did not sleep a wink... I suspect it's all the beer... alcohol seems to interfere with my sleeping patterns. Guess I'll skip the beer tonight and try to get some sleep! We start the day today at the pool at 7:30, breakfast after...