Catching up...
I've been putting off this post as I've been waiting for some race results to be posted. It's Thursday and the race was on Saturday and still no results, what's up with that??
The weekend presented a choice as to where to race. There were three triathlons that I could choose from, Charlottesville Sprint, Bath County Sprint or the Davis Health Sprint in Elkins WV. I've done the C'ville Sprint the last two years and have done well, but I wanted a new challenge. The Bath County race is highly regarded and I knew a bunch of people racing. It's always fun to race with friends but I couldn't take the plunge into Lake Moomaw this year. Elkins was the choice, free place to stay (thanks Matt) and I could hang out with fraternity brothers. Plus Elkins is one of my favorite places, the gateway to the mountains. Elkins is where I went to school, at Davis & Elkins College. The campus hosted the race with the swim in the pool where I lifeguarded for work-study. When I got my registration, I checked to see if the ceiling tile had been replaced. Back in college there was a tile that was missing above the deep end and we would climb up into the steel rafters and drop through the tile into the pool 25 feet below. Ah memories. The run was on the trails that I raced on while on the cross country team. Yeah, I ran cross country in college, actually it was more of a jog. It was a great experience to run for Coach Will. These trails were also the first ones on which I rode a mountain bike, a purple Trek 930. Ah memories.
The swim was 8 laps in the pool for 400 yards. I'm terrible at counting laps, but there were volunteers there to count and let you know when you were on the final lap. Well, the lady counting for me was as good at it as I am and as I jumped out of the pool, I heard "you did an extra lap." That's okay, it's a training race and if it had been an open water swim, I would've zig zagged my way to those extra 50 yards.
Jumping on the road bike, I knew I should've ridden it more than once in the past few weeks. I would have been more comfortable in the aero bars. I quickly got into a rhythm and started reeling in people from my wave. After the turn around point and the screaming downhill I had moved pass everyone who had started in the wave before me. What a fun course, even with the hills. I like hills, I keep telling myself that. One day I may believe it.
Off the bike and onto the trails I pushed it, trying to keep my leg speed up. All I could think of was how much fun I was having on the run. Damn these trails are fun. I was cracking jokes with the race volunteers as I went by them. The run finishes with a long section on grass which was soft from the rain the day before. Quick Feet. Quick Feet and then I was done. I packed up and waited for the awards. My goal was to win this race, I was highly motivated to do well on a course that bestowed a lot of great memories. My name wasn't called for the overall winner and they didn't do awards for second and third place. I did win the 35-39 age group, I think my time would've placed me second overall, but that's the first loser. I'll be back next year for another go at the overall.
Back to Elkins.
(iplayoutside.com has photos here)
The weekend presented a choice as to where to race. There were three triathlons that I could choose from, Charlottesville Sprint, Bath County Sprint or the Davis Health Sprint in Elkins WV. I've done the C'ville Sprint the last two years and have done well, but I wanted a new challenge. The Bath County race is highly regarded and I knew a bunch of people racing. It's always fun to race with friends but I couldn't take the plunge into Lake Moomaw this year. Elkins was the choice, free place to stay (thanks Matt) and I could hang out with fraternity brothers. Plus Elkins is one of my favorite places, the gateway to the mountains. Elkins is where I went to school, at Davis & Elkins College. The campus hosted the race with the swim in the pool where I lifeguarded for work-study. When I got my registration, I checked to see if the ceiling tile had been replaced. Back in college there was a tile that was missing above the deep end and we would climb up into the steel rafters and drop through the tile into the pool 25 feet below. Ah memories. The run was on the trails that I raced on while on the cross country team. Yeah, I ran cross country in college, actually it was more of a jog. It was a great experience to run for Coach Will. These trails were also the first ones on which I rode a mountain bike, a purple Trek 930. Ah memories.
The swim was 8 laps in the pool for 400 yards. I'm terrible at counting laps, but there were volunteers there to count and let you know when you were on the final lap. Well, the lady counting for me was as good at it as I am and as I jumped out of the pool, I heard "you did an extra lap." That's okay, it's a training race and if it had been an open water swim, I would've zig zagged my way to those extra 50 yards.
Jumping on the road bike, I knew I should've ridden it more than once in the past few weeks. I would have been more comfortable in the aero bars. I quickly got into a rhythm and started reeling in people from my wave. After the turn around point and the screaming downhill I had moved pass everyone who had started in the wave before me. What a fun course, even with the hills. I like hills, I keep telling myself that. One day I may believe it.
Off the bike and onto the trails I pushed it, trying to keep my leg speed up. All I could think of was how much fun I was having on the run. Damn these trails are fun. I was cracking jokes with the race volunteers as I went by them. The run finishes with a long section on grass which was soft from the rain the day before. Quick Feet. Quick Feet and then I was done. I packed up and waited for the awards. My goal was to win this race, I was highly motivated to do well on a course that bestowed a lot of great memories. My name wasn't called for the overall winner and they didn't do awards for second and third place. I did win the 35-39 age group, I think my time would've placed me second overall, but that's the first loser. I'll be back next year for another go at the overall.
Back to Elkins.
(iplayoutside.com has photos here)
posted by MRussell at 9:45 PM
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