The Enka Triathlon at Biltmore Lake was the first tri I did, back in 2010. I loved the course, but I hadn't done it since then because of timing and other race goals, so this seemed like a good year to go back.
The lake was beautiful this morning:
Ready to go!
The swim was great. Great conditions - the water was 80 degrees and the lake was really calm. I felt pretty smooth for the most part. I think swimming 3x per week since January (ish) is finally paying off a little.
Then onto the bike. I LOVE this bike course. It's pretty hilly and a little long for a sprint (17.5 mi), so it's tough, but it's gorgeous. And I like the hills anyway. Normal story of my life on the bike- passing a lot of people on the uphills and trying (usually failing) to stay ahead of them on the downhills... or at least to stay close enough that I can catch them on the run.
Back into transition and out onto the path around the lake for the run. The path is lovely and shades, but not quite 3.1 miles, so there's a little detour through a neighborhood with a huge hill to get the distance. Back on the trail at about 1.5 miles in I was feeling good and still passing people (the advantage of being a relatively weak swimmer is having a lot of people to catch on the bike and run). Except for the one hill it was a pretty flat course and I had a great run.
Coming into the chute!
Finished! And a PR for this course (by 14 min over the first time when I didn't even have a road bike).
When the preliminary results were posted it looked like I had placed in my age group, so we hung around waiting for the awards ceremony.
Good thing we stayed, because I won a door prize for a $100 gift card to NOC. :)
And also, because I was 2nd in my age group (if I counted right, I was the 8th female overall)!
And then, a shower and refueling.
So yeah, it was a good day. Compression tights on now so hopefully I'll still be ready for my long run and long bike tomorrow!
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