Mountian Lakes Race Report

Lana, Amy, and I drove down to Guntersville, AL Friday evening. We picked up our race packets and checked into our hotel. We had a great room right on the lake, too bad we were just crashing for the night.

We decided to go to Cee Cee’s pizza. We had a hard time finding it but finally got there and loaded up on salad, pasta, and pizza. Yummy.

Race morning we loaded everything up and went to the race site. We did he usual set up and body marking. As we were standing around the lake before the race we hear “LANA”. Our photographer had made a surprise appearance. So now I have some great pictures for my race report. Thanks Flash.


The Swim-600 yards open water

Before the race they announced that they had mowed the lake. They had only cut a strip around the buoys so they warned us to stay as close to them as possible otherwise you would end up getting into the grass (she gave it some other fancy name that I can’t remember) and it would “tingle”. I didn’t know what that meant exactly but I was staying as close to the buoys as I could.
When the race started and the first swimmers went out we noticed some people walking as far as the first buoy then walking again after the last buoy. It was kind of funny to see some of them act like they were swimming when in fact they were really just running.
I have had a series of really bad swims this season so I put in 13 minutes as my estimated swim time. This and everyone wanting to stay in the mowed area made for some full contact swimming. When it was my turn to start, I ran to the end of the carpet and started swimming. I noticed the guy that started behind me running along side of me. He was running faster then I was swimming. When he finally started swimming, I passed him. I got kicked in the cheek and smacked in the head along the way. I had lake grass hanging on my arms. What a fun swim. Turns out it was one of my best swims this season. Go figure.
Swim time 11:55

T1
Before the race, I made sure I knew where my bike was racked. Someone had drawn a blue heart on the pavement on my row. I came in from the swim and the blue hart was washed away. I still made it right to my bike.
T1 time 2:05

the Bike- 16.2 miles
I started the race about 9 seconds before Lana. I saw her bike was still in transition so I knew she would be catching me soon. I was surprised it took her until 4 miles. I passed her back once and then she was gone. I kept her in sight for a LONG time and pushed hard but she finally got too far ahead to see anymore. Meanwhile, I was battling back and forth with red bikini girl, speedo man, and 42 year old Athena. In the end, I made it to T2 ahead of all 3 of them.
Bike time 49:08

T2
This time I went one row too far and had to run around the other end and back to my spot. I was slipping and sliding in my bike shoes.
T2 time 1:14

The Run - 3 miles
The run was on a flat running trail. There was lots of shade. Perfect. I saw Trisonq just as I was heading out. He was ALREADY finished. Then I saw Flash. I yelled “Hey Flash” He took off running to get ahead of me and got my picture. My legs starting getting tired right before the turn. I was thinking about my 12 mile run the day before, then I saw Lana. She was still going strong. If she can do this so can I!! I never thought about tired legs again. I saw Amy at the last water station (first for her) and cheered her on as I was trying to drink. As I was coming close to the finish chute, I saw a girl ahead of me and picked up the pace. I passed her and crossed the finish line strong.
Run time 26:06

Lana, me and Amy Pre-Race

and Post-Race

Total Race time 1:30:30
I finished 12th out of 40 in my age group, the largest female age group. Be sure to stop by and congratulate Lana on her outstanding performance. I would say the same for Amy but she has yet to start her blog.

We hung around for the awards and then made the long drive home. We discussed upcoming events. We still need to sign up for I Run for the Party, STAR, Music City, and Rocket City. $$$$$. We also talked about our trip to Panama City in November. Time to start looking for a room and volunteer. I also need to break it to my husband. I have been waiting to make sure Lana was really in and I think this is about as sure as I will ever be about her.