Steven and Mckenna at the falls.
Steven and Mckenna came to visit while Steven is on leave from the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso.
We saw all of the tourist attractions including the lovely Noccalula Falls
Cherry Liqueur
like lemoncello but with fresh cherries
this one is a little bit trickier.
pitting cherries without a pitter is a big hassle.
I hope it is worth it.
Lemoncello
We don’t need no stinking Sun Tea.
Over a month now steeping, ready to bottle soon.
I’m excited
Wet Dog Triathlon 2009
Wet Dog Triathlon Race Report:
I ran into Scot at the pool and he mentioned the Wet Dog Triathlon to me in Decatur, Alabama. Even though it was late notice I tossed my entry into the mail and cleared the schedule. While not a sanctioned race it did seem t pretty popular and a triathlon in Alabama is not something to be skipped lightly since there are so few.
Raceday. I made it over to Scot and Athena’s at 0-dark-thirty. We loaded up the bikes and made the two hour drive to Decatur in plenty of time.
We arrived and saw that there were plenty of spots in transition but we went and tossed our bikes in before we got our packets. We both got decent spots, but it was good that we did it early because afterwards people were just laying their bikes in the grass because there was no space.
We went and searched for packet pickup. We couldn’t find it because there were no signs…. We did find out where they were giving out numbers so we got those, chips and were body-marked.( we found packet pickup later, after the race) It was in a small room in the community center, near the finish line, not near transition… bizzaro+ no signs)
I went and finished up my transition set up and went to the beach for the race start. No one was around so i went and warmed up in the water then waited FOREVER.
The race started pretty late- which always stresses me out, but I survived. It sounds like there many more people racing than ever before( Scot didn’t even get a shirt) We got into a rough line because there was only a very short chute and people just kind of started and got in line when they wanted to. Very low pressure start.
The swim was a a semi triangle mainly out and back with the start and stops being at either side of a small swim area. The buoys were very small and low in the water, but then again i usually have a hard time sighting anyway. I felt like i swam my pace, was passed a few time but passed a few others. I made it to the turnaround and nearly ran into the buoy! a propane tank!
I made my turn and pointed right into the sun to get home, it was hard to see, but once again i just swam hard and made it to the finish.
When I got out of the swim i tried to press lap on my GPS but realized I never started it… doh! I decided to to fiddle until t2. I made it to my bike after a long run through a supportive crowd. As I was running i realized there was no mat, so our transition times were just tacked on the bike.
I put on m gear but found that my endurolytes had been knocked into the grass- i dug some out and eat them–a little extra fiber didn’t hurt. I ran out of t1 and hopped on the bike and passed some people before i even had my shoes on, thats a good sign. I got all ready to go and opened it up. I passed a ton of people. the course was great, very flat and traffic wasn’t bad since most of the course was pretty controlled. There was a bit of drafting and tons of blocking, but it was to be expected at a non sanctioned race with no marshals. since it was flat and with gentle turns (except the turnaround) I was able to stay in aero the whole race. I was able to pace pretty well and only had to burn a few matches when there were slight slowdowns for passes and turns.
I was determined to beat my cramping issues so i sat up a little earlier than usual and spun really hard and a woman I passed a mile before passed me back. I spun for a good 500 yards in the little ring. Then i made the flying dismount to the oohs and ahhs of several people watching 
I racked my bike slammed on my running shoes and went off on the run. I felt a little rough at first but i quickly got it out of my system and started pushing the pace on the run. The course was beautiful with a lot of time spent on a dirt trail in the woods. I ran very hard and was able to contastly push myself. I took one quick water, but kept my heart rate high and my turnover higher.
I passed a pile of people and only two passed me.
when i looked down at my Garmin after I passed the finish line i saw 22:50. I was impressed with myself, I felt like i pushed pretty hard on the bike and i ran one of my fastest 5Ks of the year–including just running events.
There was a nice area at the finish to grab a drink and cool down, and afterwards i tracked down a restroom and my packet. put up my bike and found scot at the Car. He finished after me, but somehow I never saw him on the course. We grabbed food and checked the results. I didn’t podium in my AG but i was 5th. my run time was a little longer on the results, but I must’ve biffed on starting the Garmin, oh well it wasn’t far off. I made it under my goal time of 1 hour to i was pleased.
It was a good race if not a little disorganized. I would certainly do it again.
5th in AG 53 overall Eric Wright/25 GADSDEN AL SWIM:8:08 BIKE:27:39 20.2mph(with trans) RUN:23:11 PACE:7:29 OVERALL:58:56
Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon
Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon:
Despite only having done two races so far this year I couldn’t pass up the allure of an Oly distance tri an hour and a half from my house. I knew my run wasn’t where I needed it to be but I gave it a go anyways.
Despite it being 1.5 hours away I had to leave at 3AM because Tennessee thinks it should be in the Eastern Time Zone. I pried myself from bed, cranked on the Radiohead in the car and battled through.
I arrived in plenty of time but had to do some fancy re-routing at the last minute because of how the course blocked traffic and then I had to dodge more idiots riding their bike in the dark without helmets riding against traffic to get to the race.
I signed in and was a bit taken aback that my number was 130 out of over a thousand folks.
I got my transition all set up, no surprises other than it being wicked dark. I was able to do all of my “business” because there were plenty of restrooms. Then I hopped on the bus to ride up to the swim start. We were all coralled on a practice field and I was a little nervous becuase I had to start so early and I couldn’t see the water. Eventually we all got started and they lined u up and slowly shuffled us onto the dock.
We hopped into the water and slowly made our way to the end of the dock, then we were told to go and off we went.
The swim wasn’t miserable for me, but it was hard. I am always afraid to push too hard on the swim because I don’t want to cramp up or get too tired, but then i end up too slow. There were a couple of moments where I was able to follow feet, but then I drifted off to the side and lost them. I decided to wear my Garmin during the race swim and all, and while my heart hate didn’t register during the swim it did confirm what I felt, I zig zagged all over creation. I must have gone well over a mile with my corrections and subsequent overcorrections.
After passing all of the bridges and swimming past the big steps on the river i made it to the exit and there were folks grabbing your arms to help you out of the water, it was big help to start getting up the submerged stairs.
My T1 wasn’t too bad, and I made my shoeless mount pretty easily. We had some quick hills on the course and that put a hurt on my legs. Eventually though I got into the groove and started making time on the course. We merged onto a highway which was a little odd, but it didn’t seem nearly as dangerous as I expected. for most of the race I was stuck in the same ballpark as about 5 other folks. None of us drafted, but we spent a lot of time making passes and getting passed. The course was rather hilly so I was able to drop them on the climbs, but once we got to the downhills they would zipp by me on their fancy tri-bikes with full aerobars, disc wheels and aero helmets. C’est la vie.
I made a really good turnaround and got back up to speed quickly (again thanks to the road bike as opposed to the heavy tri bikes) II was able to drop a couple of folks for good. I did get passed on the course several times, but I think it mainly had to do with starting so near the front. I had one bottle of carborocket on the bike and one gel. I felt ok stomach wise but because of the length of the race I wanted to get food in me early.
I made my now comfortable flying dismount and had a nice quick t2. Then things got bad… cue ominous organ music.
I started running and got that typical heavy leg feeling. I managed to make it through that and pick up my pace only to be slammed with cramps, side stitch at first then whammo stomach cramps. I had to walk for good chunks of the course and stop and stretch. The course was a nice out and back with plenty of water stops. I also had to take a quick leak, but i couldn’t shake the cramps. I ended up picking up the pace on my last mile. I even passed about a dozen folks there including a little sprint with a guy in my age group.
When I finished I found I had a ton of bloody blisters on feet, i guess the cramps were so bad I didn’t notice all of the blood.
Not a bad race overall but it hurt. I realized I have been focusing on shorter workouts and just need to add some length.
Times put me the bottom half of my age group by a skosh. I am not happy about that but. I am done and on to another race!
57 out of 93 in AG
Eric Wright 30:04 2:01 1:17:19 1:45 59:11 2:50:19
Decent food afterwards but I couldn’t eat… I was only blocks away from the Mellow Mushroom too, so sad!
My Photo Stream
