Chattanooga Waterfront Tri

     Matt and I left Penscola 11 days ago and drove up to visit my sister who recently moved to Pennsylvania. It was a long trip up, but so worth it. Matt spent a good part of the week we were up there working with Jon (my bro in-law) around the house, busting up concrete, replacing a floor, digging out stumps, and sanding their kitchen table and chairs while I got to spend most of my time playing with the kids, taking them to swim lessons, and doing some cooking and organizing around the house with Devon. We had an awesome visit, it just went by too fast!

     We left PA on Friday and drove to Kingsport, TN where we got to spend some time with our friends the Osteens. Allison was one of my coaches in high school and has a great family. We try to take advantage of any chance we get to see them. We left their place early Saturday morning and headed to Chattanooga where my parents were waiting for us. Thankfully it wasn't a long drive, just a little over 3 hours, which was much better than the 8.5 we had done the day before.
     After a quick spin on the bike and a short run along the river we went to grab lunch. Our hotel was right downtown and just a couple blocks from the race start so we were able to walk everywhere which was so nice. Good find mom :-). That afternoon we went up lookout mountain and did some exploring. It was such a beautiful place. By the time we made it down the mountain it was time for dinner and then back to the hotel to get ready for the morning. We put out tri tat race numbers on, filled up water bottles, and got all of our gear together and ready. It was a pretty packed hotel room with 4 people, 3 bikes, and all our luggage and gear.
     Race morning we got up and again, it was so nice not having to load the bikes on the car, fight traffic, or having to find a place to park. We just walked the few blocks down to transition and got everything setup and ready to go. Bikes racked, water bottles and nutrition in place, all our numbers attached, and shoes set out, we were ready to race.

As a friend once said, "like sheep being led to the slaughter" :-)

     We headed down to the start line ready to begin the first leg of the race...a 2 mile run...oh yeah I didn't mention it, but after the massive amount of rain the southeast has gotten over the last two weeks the water level of the river was at 300% and deemed unsafe for kayaks and swimmers not to mention the fact that the swim start area and the steps at the swim exit were completely underwater. We were notified the day before the race that we would be competing in a Duathlon. I have to admit, I was bummed, but thought that the race organizers did an excellent job of making the change.

Excited to get going

     We still started in time trial format, with athletes staring about every 2 seconds. I was number 310 so I had just enough time to watch the elites start up front and then find my place in line. The first run started up a hill and then was just a straight out and back. I was over pretty quickly and we were out on the bike course.
I've done this race several times and I'm never fully prepared for this course coming from flatland Florida. It is no joke and is rolling the entire way with some hard, long hills thrown in there too. I felt like I was able to pace myself well though and was able to steadily pass people throughout the first half. I was glad to hit the turnaround and not long after took in a little bit of food and was able to finish strong.

     Going out on the run, I really wasn't quite sure how my legs were going to feel with the initial run already in them and the hilly bike, but I was pleased to find out they didn't feel too bad. Don't get me wrong, they weren't fresh by any means, but better than I expected. The run course at this race is one of my favorites. The first mile is a little tough with a decently long, but not too steep hill right out of transition, a set of stairs that we have to climb not long after that, and then a pretty steep descent right after that but past that, the next 4 miles are along a flat, paved walkway along the river. In the final mile we had to climb the steep descent that we started with and climb the stairs again, but then got to fly downhill to the finish line. Overall I felt pretty good on the run and felt I was holding a good, solid pace, but I was ready to see that finish line!

     Once across, I found Matt and we went back to find a place where we could get some good pics of my parents finishing. They both did awesome and I was proud to see them finish strong! It's so fun to be able to share these adventures with them. We enjoyed the post race festivities, Team Magic always does a great job and then waited for the awards to begin. I was able to snag first place in my age group and was able to round out the top 10 overall women, coming in 10th.