Marching to the beat of a different mandolin

This day!

We won our knockout. That's my big news. I've won lots of knockouts in the past and I've had more prestigious wins than this, but this is still probably the most exciting win for me so far in my bridge life. First of all, it's kind of a national championship (heh). Also, Bermuda does things well. This tournament ends with a banquet (tomorrow night) where all the winners are presented their prizes and get their names engraved on fancy trophies that they've awarded annually for over 50 years. This is my first event win here, and I'm psyched it was in the main event, no less! So, about those trophies...

McKenzie's first bridge sponsor was a lady named Pat. She's about a thousand years old and she's just terrible at bridge. Once upon a time, she was a successful businesswoman, or something like that, but those days are long gone. She's been more than a little cuckoo for several decades now. No one in Bermuda will play with her because it's such a chore, so she only plays when she hires pros, and while that used to be more frequent, now it's just this tournament every year. And being that she's lost her marbles, she doesn't do very well and has never won anything. She wants to SOOOO BADLY. I played on a team with her in 2008 and we finished 2nd in the Swiss. I was excited to be 2nd, but didn't realize what a huge disappointment it was to come so close and not win. It was my first year at this tournament, I was a relatively new player myself, and I didn't know about the banquet and all the fuss about winning here. Anyway, our friend Brian has been playing with Pat here for the last 15 years. He's put in some heroic efforts, but they've still never managed to get up on that stage. This year, they got teammates that brought their team average down enough to compete in Bracket II -- just low enough that Brian could drive the team to some potential victories. They had some close calls along the way, but made it to the finals today as well. Our team finished first, did our celebrating, and then Z and I ran back into the playing area to check on Pat and Brian. We watched them compare, and the first half of the boards didn't look good -- but then they had a few small swings in a row and brought it back for the win. Pat was so happy, she was bawling and screeching. I cried a little, too. I think McKenzie did as well. Everyone is so fucking happy for her. At dinner, when Brian walked into the dining room at our resort, everyone applauded him. He fucking deserves it. Now we just hope Pat doesn't die of excitement between now and tomorrow's award presentation. She really is a thousand years old. But if she does die tonight, she'll die happy.

Mom has a cold, so she decided not to play last night or tonight, giving me the night off. The team is keeping me with them for the Swiss tomorrow, so we've got one more shot at a trophy. We were 2nd in the first Swiss, held Sunday, but that was with me anchoring and Jay not playing. Tomorrow we'll be 6, so I'll play half and Jay will play the other half, while just Kevin and Z anchor. I think we have a good shot at winning. If we do win, it is very likely that McKenzie will win the overall trophy here. He's currently leading that race, but the people close behind him are leading the final two-session pair game, and they're 1/2 of the team that beat us in the first Swiss. He had a poor first half in the pairs, so he's not in contention for the overalls, but a section award would be a nice boost to his chances for that trophy.

I'm very happy with the way everything has gone this week. Regardless of what happens tomorrow, it's been a successful tournament for all of us, and it has been so much fun to play with Z. I haven't played serious bridge with him in YEARS, and he's been impressed with my play. Obviously I've improved in that time, but I don't think he really knew how much better I'd gotten. He's been very complimentary, and even though I know I'm good, it means a lot to have his praise. He would be honest about these things, and wouldn't give me fake encouragement. I'm proud of myself for making him proud of me :)

And on Saturday I get to go to New York and see my nieces!!

I have a few minutes before the taxi comes to get us this morning, so I'll post as much of an update as I can squeeze in.

Bermuda is going really well so far. I played with Mom in the Charity Pairs on the first night, and we had a decent game -- 54%, good enough for a low scratch. She played well. The next day, the guys asked me to tack onto their team for the first of two all-day Swiss events. I ended up anchoring with McKenzie while Kevin played the first four with Cookie and the last three with Kimberly. We had a great day, and finished second in the event. I felt like I played great, and it was REALLY fun to play with Z -- it was the first time I've played real bridge with him in four years.

I played well enough to earn a spot on the team for the Championship Knockout event as well. Jay joined us for that, so we were a team of six, and I played the first half with Z and Jay played with him the second half. We won our first match and will play round two this afternoon. Yesterday evening was the first session of the Championship Open Pairs, which I played with Mom. That didn't go very well, so we probably won't be winning that event when it wraps up tonight, but it was fun anyway.

I'm really enjoying playing with Z, and I'm psyched that Kevin and crew want me on the team. It wasn't expected at all, but I'm enjoying it. It would be lovely to win something with them -- we defeated the defending champions in the KO yesterday (they are also the team that won the Swiss).

I've been working out in the gym here each morning. The roads are too dangerous for pedestrians, so running outside is out of the question, and the weather is too fickle anyway -- one minute it's clear and calm, and the next it's a torrential downpour. You'd think you could see it coming in the distance, but it really can sneak up on you. So anyway I've been running on the treadmill. The first day I ran 3 miles at 6.3mph and it was AWFUL. I did it and am proud of myself, but holy shit I was dying. It's so humid here, I couldn't see for all the sweat running through my eyes and down my face. Not a comfortable run. Yesterday I ran a mile for warmup, but my pants were way too warm for me to keep going, so I did weights instead for about a half hour. I gave the bike ten halfhearted minutes and then called it a day. This morning, I changed tactics -- I wore shorts, for one thing -- and I set my pace much slower, at 5.5mph. That was the best idea I've had all week. Normally my pride wouldn't let me go slower than a 10-minute mile, but I knew I'd regret it if I tried that today. Turns out my run was quite pleasant at this slightly slower pace. Maybe I should get over myself and stop trying to outdo myself on speed -- it's not like a 9:30-mile is all that fast, anyway. Who gives a fuck if I take a few extra minutes to finish a course, if I feel a thousand times better at the end? We'll see if I stick to this idea when I get back to a more breathable running climate. I really think I should.

Anyway, time to go play some more bridge.