I had an incredible time competing in the LPC Traithlon in Hendersonville, NC today! Although the weather was pretty miserable (rain pretty much the whole time and temps in the low 60's) this truely was one of my favorite events! Given the fact that I start chiropractic school at the end of next month, I knowingly realize that this was more than likely my last tri for the next several years, as I will be a poor college "kid" with kids for a while.
We started off the morning with a short and fast 200 yard swim in an indoor pool. Of course as my luck would have it, as I jumped into the water to start, my goggles came off down around my neck and I spend the next couple of seconds struggling to get them back in place. I swam the entire 200 yards with the right lense full of water and the left one mor than half filled! Not my ideal way to get started, but I was happy with my time of 3 minutes and 34 seconds.
Transition 1 took us out of the pool and up a slight hill to the transition area where I rock and rolled getting into my cycling shoes and on to the bike. This was a challenging 17 mile course through a beautiful and quite hilly section of landscape here in Western NC. There was one tough climb about halfway through the course that was very much a "lung buster" and made this 200 pound country boy wish he was about 50 pounds lighter at that moment (but only at that moment)! The rain and wet roads made me a little more cautious than I would have been otherwise, so my bike time was a couple of minutes slower than I had hoped for. Overall, not a terrible time of 52 minutes and 48 seconds (my goal was 50 minutes flat).
Transition 2 was a little slower as I came out of the cycling shoes and helmet and into my Fila Skele-toes running flats. Check out my earlier blog post on reviewing these shoes be cause I love them and dollar-4-dollar you cannot get a better lightweight running flat for the money! I always have to face the fact that I am not a super fast runner. On a good day in a sprint triathlon on a flater course I am a 21 to 22 minute 5K runner. Today, I was much slower as this was a preety tough and hilly 5K. I finished up the run which took us a gradual climb for the first half and then out through a grassy meadow and around a running track for the finish. My run time was a disappointing 25 minutes and 48 seconds, but all in all I was very happy with my total time of 1 hour and 24 minutes, which was good enough for 14th overall and 3rd in my age group.
Check out my 3rd Place Age Group Finisher Medal:
I absolutely love the fact that these are handmade ceramic medals, which have so much more character and creativity that the standard ol' generic medal variety!
The post race activities of this race were incredible! Had yummy sub sandwiches (veggie subs for me even!!!) from Monte's Subs in Fletcher, NC so if you are ever in the area, you must check these guys out. The sandwiches were incredible I swear!!!!! They're was also yummy frozen yogurt from Strawberry Hill Frozen Yogurt in Fletcher, NC and I chose the pretzel flavor which was aamzing. Gotta stop by here too if you're in town! Therr were free massages and energy patches, free water bottles and other nice things. The SWAG bag was one of the better ones I have gotten at a race and the Race tees are these awesome vintage style tees that I am sure I have a pic of me in on here sooner or later :)
So, if you are looking for a late season race next summer in NC, you must put this one on your list. Trust me, Western NC is a great vacation spot here on the East Coast so give it some serious consideration! You won't regret it!
Stay Focused and Happy Training Y'all!!!!
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