Our first big race of the year! And in sunny Florida (actually at Disney World!)
1st on the agenda - new tri bikes! Flat fast course - we needed to upgrade :)
Chris - getting his bike fit
Chris new bike!
Me - getting my bike fit - it's a 2 hour process & we had already ridden our road bikes for 5 hours...
Chris new bike!
Me - getting my bike fit - it's a 2 hour process & we had already ridden our road bikes for 5 hours...
John, bike guru, working his magic on getting the angles right
Finished products! John was concerned that they look a little like 'his' and 'hers'. But what can we say - the new Trek's are amazing & way ahead of the competition. Besides, I have it on first hand knowledge, that a couple local pros - also have 'his' and 'her' bikes.
Made it to Florida - staying at the Wilderness Lodge. The race starts & ends at the Wilderness Lodge campground - across the lake from this beautiful lodge.
Waiting for the boat to take us across the lake to the campground - so we could pick up our race packets.
Hitting the Expo on Saturday! Loved the 86 degree weather & low humidity
Swim finish already set up and ready for the 6:30 am start
Had to rack our bicycles on Saturday. Of course it poured all afternoon & evening.
Transition area after the race - 2500 athletes raced. It was fun! Chris had a super fast race - he flew on his new bike! I also had a good race - my usual time for a half ironman: just under 6 hours. We both had long swims. It was windy, so the lake was choppy. The bike course was flat & fast - but technical. There were a lot of out and backs with tight turn arounds. The run was 3 loops on paved trail & grass trail. At first I thought I would mentally burn out with all the loops. But I actually loved it! Chris did too! It helped that I ran with a girl from Florida for 2 of my loops. She kept me going, and I kept her going. Triathlon is so cool that way - everyone is friendly & supportive - even the other athletes. What a great day!
Originally, we thought that part of the race might be cancelled. We actually walked to the race start at 5:00 in the rain with lightening & thunder all around us. We didn't think the race would start on time - or at the very least the swim would be cancelled. But at 6:00, the skies cleared & we were all ready to go!
Chris' mom & husband Tony braved the early morning rain storm & arrived to cheer us on! Amazingly, we saw them before the start, after the swim, and 3 times on the run! It was great to have family support & to see smiling faces!
Chris' mom & husband Tony braved the early morning rain storm & arrived to cheer us on! Amazingly, we saw them before the start, after the swim, and 3 times on the run! It was great to have family support & to see smiling faces!
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