I Sweat Salt: Flagstaff, Again

After Napa it was back to reality. A couple short weeks later we were off to Flagstaff for the Mountain Man Olympic Triathlon.

Race travel essentials. Pro Compression, Starbucks, new mani, & lucky bracelet.

Arizona beauty.

We rented a gorgeous house with two other couples.

We got up North late on Friday night. Saturday morning I got up to do a little shake out walk/jog. We decided to head into downtown Flagstaff to do a little walking around and grab some lunch.

We came across this gem and may have gotten a couple of goodies.

Brandon, Eric, and I headed to the race venue to pick up our packets. This race is very low key, you can literally run in and out for your packet in five minutes. Since we've both done these races multiple times, we didn't mess around. We had a nice home cooked meal on Saturday night and then played some games. One more sleep and it was game time.

I find it hilarious that I end up with a job as a 5-0.

Race morning went smoothly. The only snafu was that I hadn't tried my race wheels on my new frame yet. When trying to put them on, the brake area was too small and they didn't fit! Training wheels for me; not really a big deal in the scheme of things. Brandon and I got setup in transition quickly and headed down to the start. A month or so ago when I did the sprint in Flagstaff, I had an awful swim where I felt lightheaded and my legs like lead, so I was a little nervous about that at the start. Luckily, I didn't have the same experience. I started out nice and steady towards the first buoy and then tried to get after it a little. I got out in the lead and held onto it going into T1. The bike was okay; nothing genius, nothing horrible. I held the lead heading into T2. I felt like I was running okay, but I knew the girls were closing in on me. Karleen passed me around the two mile mark; shortly before the picture below.

I focused on moving forward at a consistent pace, but SheriAnne caught me less than a mile from the finish. It was frustrating, but I had nothing else to give. My quest to becoming a runner continues. Overall, I was happy with the race and finishing 3rd Overall.