Enka Tri (5 years of "tri-ing")

2010

2015

2014

Way back in 2010, the Enka Triathlon at Biltmore Lake was my very first triathlon. I had been wanting to try it for a while, but I had to get up the nerve. I  had no gear to speak of, except some running shoes and a hybrid bike I had bought. :)

I don't remember many details about that first race- the bike course is beautiful and I remember just being so happy out there, and I remember how glad I was to have finished. And I learned - the only 2 pieces of "gear" that I consider absolutely essential are a neoprene strap for my chip (the hospital bracelets some races use cut into my ankle) and a race belt (no more pinning my number onto my shirt and pulling it on after the swim). And, I wanted to do it again! And faster!

Today, I did the Enka Tri for the 3rd time, and it's still one of my favorites. The course is still beautiful, and Glory Hound and Set-Up do a great job. In fact, this year I joined Glory Hound's "registration team" because they do so many of my favorite events. 

I haven't been training as much this year as I had last year, so I really wanted to just enjoy it and not put too much pressure on myself. And I think I did that. 

I usually don't remember the course clearly enough to write a good description, but lots of people were asking me about the bike course before the race started, so I'm going to try. 

Swim: 

The water was warm but not hot, and the air was cold, so I was kind of freezing before the start. I spent the last few nervous minutes chatting with some great gals from Greenville. The lake is beautiful and clean. It was a bit foggy and hard to see the far-off buoys, but there were lots of kayaks to keep us mostly on course. I managed not to get kicked much and stay pretty straight, and I was only slightly slower than last year.

Bike:

The course description says "rolling hills." Let's just say that's a relative term. If you're used to riding in western NC, or even in Greenville, it's not extreme at all. But there are definitely some challenging climbs and if you're from somewhere flat you might want to find a few bridges. There are basically 5 big hills that I remember, with the worst ones being close to the lake (ie at the very beginning and towards the end). I pushed hard on the hills and descended as fast as I could make myself and ended up basically the identical bike split to last year.

Run:

The run is mostly relatively flat and shaded on the path around the lake... except for the same big hill as at the beginning of the bike course. At about the 1 mile point, the route goes off the path and up the hill for a loop in the neighborhood before returning to the trail. That hill is super tough running or on a bike, but it doesn't last forever. Again, just a little slower than last year.

So overall, I was about 1:30 slower than last year and I really enjoyed myself. And I was 2nd in my age group!

Asheville Marathon ambassador-ing

Guess what? I'm an Asheville Marathon Ambassador (AMA) again this year! AND, I have a discount code for 15% off that's good through July 31. Use ELIZABETH2016AMAROCKS when you register and come join us for this beautiful race at Biltmore!

If you want to read more about how awesome this race is, here are my recaps from the last 2 years: 
2015 race recap
2014 race recap

Ironman Raleigh 70.3 relay

Since I'm not training for anything big this year, 2 of my friends and I decided to do Ironman Raleigh 70.3 as a relay team - Steph would swim, Kristin would bike, and I would run. We were in the middle of  registering and we needed a team name, so Kristin suggested "Wonder Women" and doing the race in costume. Why not?

When race weekend came, our friend Kim decided to come with us to cheer, and she even offered to drive so none of us would have to drive back after racing. 

This was my first Ironman brand event, and they definitely do a great job. When we checked into the hotel there were volunteers in the lobby with directions to packet pickup. So we walked over there and got our stuff and explored the Expo. 

After we checked Kristin's bike in at the lake, we settled into the hotel room and planned dinner. Great view of Raleigh from the Holiday Inn downtown!

Since I went to NC State I had a few places I wanted to take them. Unfortunately, my all-time favorite restaurant, 518 West, had recently closed, and everything in walking distance is new. So we picked a pizza place that looked close and easy, and then tried to go to sleep early. 

Since there are 2 transitions, they have shuttle buses from T2 back to T1, and they encourage people to take them due to limited parking, so we did. However, I would encourage relay teams to at least bring one car, and maybe even leave the runner at T2. It's 45 minutes to the lake, and the timing can get tight. We made it (but mostly thanks to new friends - one who gave Kim a ride out to the lake when they didn't have enough shuttle space for spectators and another who drove us back to T2 while Kristin was biking so I wouldn't miss her).

Jordan Lake is beautiful. 

Ready to race!

Relays were the last wave, so we had some time to wait before Steph started, but eventually it was time! and then once Kristin was out on the bike it was time for me to start to get ready. 

When we got back to T2 I tried to sit in the shade as much as possible. I knew it would be very hot on the run. Once it seemed like she was probably pretty close, I went into the relay area in transition to wait. 

She came in and I was off! It was super hot (and obviously the costume made it even hotter), but I really enjoyed making people smile. 

The run is 2 laps - from downtown, past NC State on Hillsborough St, turn around at Gorman and back x2. Not much shade. I'm not gonna lie, I was feeling pretty rough at the end of the first lap. So it was perfect timng to see my best friend and her daughter cheering. :) 

Quick hug and off on the second lap. I felt so much better once I had passed the turnaround and only had 3ish miles to go. 

Finished!

And, of course, post-race Goodberry's. Yum.