Why Mermaids?

Why mermaid triathlon? Mermaids swim, but they don't bike or run. Unless of course they are Daryl Hannah or Ariel and fall in love with Tom Hanks, or other appropriately hunky leading men, and as the result of this passion suddenly grow legs. But even then, neither mermaid did a lot running around or biking. In fact they were rather wobbly on their newly grown appendages, so it wasn't like the first thing they did was say "Wow! Look! I have legs! I'm going to do a triathlon!" More like it was "Wow! Look! I have legs! I gotta shave 'em, so when I'm sharing smoochies with my human man we can move on to second base without shame." Okay, well maybe not Ariel, because you know, Disney movie and all. But I'm sure the thought crossed Daryl Hannahs mind. Did you see her in The Clan of the Cave Bear? Shameless.

Wow. This blog is beginning to sound like one of Elaines crack dreams. Okay. So back on track.

Why mermaids? Or more importantly why female only triathlon? Do women really need a girls only sport to compete? And why is an all female competitive event appealing to other women? Is it because they think women will be more supportive? That the event will be "nicer" or less competitive somehow if men aren't involved? Does competing with men somehow diminish what women are trying to accomplish? These are all the questions I try not to ask myself, because I'm not sure how I feel about it.

But here's the question that really bothers me. Is having an all womans triathlon even fair? I don't think I'd like it if there was an all male triathlon that I couldn't register for because I'm a girl.

On the more cheerful mermaidy side, I get to race with all my favorite people this Sunday. It's Judiths first race of the season. She's been kicking butt on the running and swimming, so it'll be exciting to see her put it all together. And Elaine is going to shave minutes off her time this year. And me? An 1:10? We'll see.