Yes...as in May 9th. Oops! I wrote the following entry a loong time ago ...and never published it because I was too lazy to add pictures. Will be catching up the next few days, but certainly not with this much detail!
What at AWESOME race! I can't stop telling everyone about the great venue, the beautiful/challenging course, and how awesome the race was run!! Here's the intro!
PRE-RACE: FRIDAY
Dan and I had an easy drive down to Knoxville. We got there just in time to get me to my TRAKKERS team dinner at Calhoun's - it was so much fun to catch up old and new teammates! I was impressed by all the RIBS little Sonja could stomach, and it was awesome to have some of the Trakkers elite athletes stop by- Michael Lovato, Amanda Lovato, and Richie Shermingham!
After that, it was such a nice night out, Dan and I wanted to get out and check out the Market Square... we found a bar that Dan could watch the Hawks game, and I could kick back with a pretty drink - a cool cucumber lime martini!
PRE-RACE: SATURDAY
Trakkers Team Photo Shoot (thanks to Sonja's dad, Eric Willis!) bright and early! Saucony gear is sweet!
After a team run, I had a chance to check out the race expo and work the Trakkers booth - first class! The weather was beautiful and the venue was great! Walking distance from major hotels. Big jumping playland for the kids...while the adults get all kinds of free goodies from the race sponsors! Lots of lucky participants received FREE sample tubs of First Endurance and waterbottles that we were handing out at the Trakkers booth!
GU was also giving away samples of all flavors of their gels and chomps. Cowbells were at a booth, and free ART (Active-release technique) treatments as well! There were also cool events on-site, including the Pro panel and Q&A with The Biggest Loser's Tara Costa.
We also had a chance to check out the water, since they had open-swim for several hours. I was worried, since I'm a baby when it comes to water temp. but with a wetsuit, 68-69 degrees felt great! I was also really excited to finally test my SBR Sports Tri-Slide - amazing! I haven't worn my wetsuit since Ironman Canada, but it was a breeze to put it on and remove it. The aerosol made application easy, and it stayed nice and slippery for easy wetsuit removal! waaaay better that vegetable oil haha!
I also had a chance to meet Team Trakker's nemesis; Terrier Tri! Their mascot Buck is NOT as sweet as he looks :)
Dinner was once again at the Market Square - Pro triathlete Andrew Starykowicz and amazing AG'er from B-town Emily Shoopman were our roomies for the weekend, so the 4 of us were searched for food...and ended up at Soccer... a Mexican fast-food restaurant haha! Taco salads and fajitas all around :) Perfect pre-race food? ;P
Andrew was also nice enough to fix my bartape and swap out my cassette - THANKS!!
Going into the race, my plan was to have a great "workout" - training hasn't been consistent or strategic this year due to all the exciting stuff going on, so I just wanted to go out there and a have a great day. Swim = steady. Bike = EASY girl... Run= not too confident with my endurance, given my pace/effort on my last couple training runs, so it was going to be important to take it easy on the bike/run!
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