We left from a lab lunch outing for a grad student who is off to a great post-doc at the NIEHS. Trent and Tri-Prof picked me up from downtown with the car loaded full of bikes and snacks. We chatted, napped, and drove the 4 hours to the mountains. We first picked up packets at a cute little gym and then found the race site. It was a great tiny NC town.
We stayed at the Episcopalian church camp. It was a terrific set up. We set up tents right on the lawn where the transition area was. We scoped out the race course, and the great camping dorms with hot showers and the cute mess hall. It brought back summer camp memories for sure!
The boys messed with bikes and got ready for bed, but it was early for me and I was itching to take advantage of the 10 degree cooler and 50% less humid weather. I ran the run portion of the race and it was one of the best runs I've had in ages! I felt fast and strong, I had great tunes to listen to, beautiful scenery to admire. I meant to just go for 15 minute out and then back, but couldn't make myself turn around. So I did the whole 6.4 (actually a little past, the turnaround wasn't clearly marked the night before). Hot shower with big stack of clean towels from the Episcopalians and tucked into our little tent.
The boys were up early to get ready. I slept great and only woke when I started hearing the traditional U2 and Coldplay songs playing from the announcers booth. I quickly got up and found my team and helped with last minute preparations.
The swim started from the boat house, went up the lake and back down for 1500 meters total. They had to swim up the creek that fed the lake (much colder water) and climb out on a dock (which was hilarious to watch as a spectator!).
Trent was blazing in the swim, coming out of the water 25th, and way ahead of people in the starting wave before him. Tri-Prof was just behind, quite exciting!
I saw them off on the bike and headed back to the tent to change out of my pj's and eat some pb&j breakfast sandwiches. I set up a comfy chair and started catching up on my New Yorkers, and then they were in before I knew it. Very fast course, Trent averaged over 20 miles per hour the entire race!
Saw them off on the run and knew exactly when to expect them back in. Trent had some troubles with side stitches, so didn't run as fast as he'd hoped, but still did terrific. He came in at 2 hours and 25 minutes, with Tri-Prof 20 minutes behind. But both had great spirits about the race, they felt strong and like they gave it their best. And inspired to train harder for the next one! Here are a couple other UNC folks that raced.
We putzed around the area for a while. Tri-Prof had brought a little grill so we cooked up some hotdogs for lunch. We watched racers finish and then Trent and I played in the creek for a bit. Around 3 we decided to pack up and head home. Easy drive back with lots of good conversations about science, life, training, and costume parties. We felt like we'd been gone for way longer than just a day when we got home. Sadie spent the day at her friend Jersey's house, but was happy to have us home. Quick rest, and then off to the Shark Party!
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