Mountain Do Triathlon

What a glorious day for a race. Temps were in the lower 60's and a slight overcast. I did this tri last year and really enjoyed it. 10k trail run, 2k kayak, 20k mtb. Hungry Mother State Park is a great location and offers wonderful hospitality. VA has some of the best parks in America, but then again, I haven't been to that many parks outside of NC, SC, and GA.

Over the winter, I purchased a used Wilderness System Tsunami kayak. Great kayak for open water and local rivers. Not the best for whitewater but will handle smaller rapids, if you know what you are doing. The first day I tried it was in the upper Jackson. I rolled it in the first 100ft of putting in. No, I don't know how to roll it so I guess I flipped over. I wanted to get a feel of how it rocks side to side and I flipped it over. I didn't have a spray skirt at the time so I came out of it and that is some cold water. Pulled it up on the shore, dumped the water out and headed on. Since then I have done a little better. More on that later.

The run and mtb are done on the same 6.2 mile loop. The trails are non technical, rolling and wide which creates some fast times.

Gun goes off about 10am and off I go. Over the winter I started back running and snowboarding. Gee, I haven't posted my snowboard adventures. The winter running really paid off. I do not consider myself a runner and really don't enjoy that much. Why do it? I don't know. Anyway, my goal was to finish it in 50 min. Last yr I did it in around 56min. Ran the whole time and felt good, hey, I kinda enjoy this. Picked up the pace and worked the hills hard leaving a few folks behind. The last mile is on pavement, which I really hate running on, so I picked up the pace a little and finished right at 50 min. I am pumped.

Grabbed my hat and gloves and off to the kayak. Jumped in and a volunteer helped push me off the shore. Hey wait, I forgot my paddle! No, not really. Around the lake we go. The Tsunami has a slight keel to it so it tracks well and is easy to paddle. Slight headwind going out but it was nice heading back in. Back at the beach in about :36. Problem, after running hard then sitting cramped in a kayak, the legs forget how to move. I jump out of the kayak and almost fall. Man, my legs were tight and stiff. My calf started to cramp. That isn't good. Well, maybe the bike will loosen them up.

Now the fun really begins. Helmet and glasses on, and I take off. My legs felt like they weighed 100lbs each. Slowly getting the leg speed up and I start to pick some folks off. There is always someone in front of you so it is nice to have a goal of catching them. I continued to fight the right calf cramping but never locked up preventing me from pedaling. Continued to catch folks and feeling a little better. First lap in :27. I picked up the pace a little and the calves started acting up again. Maintained a good pace and picked off about 6 places on the mtb with 2 of them in the last 1/4 mile on the road. Now that was fun.

Finished with a total time of 2:26:07. 4th place in men's 39 and under 9th in individual men's overall. The turnout was a little lower this year with only about 40 participants in the men's division. Winning time was 2:05:22. Fastest run time 39:50 and mtb time 48:48. That is smokin. I picked up 8 places in my division and 16 places overall after the run. Maybe more running next winter.

Overall, had a blast and didn't get passed by a girl!

Next race this Saturday in Lexington. Lexington Road & River Relay

Another tri this time with my teammate Seth.