White Mountains Triathlon

Chris and I had signed up to do the White Mountains Triathlon two weeks after Rev 3 Quassy.  I was really psyched about having the opportunity to redeem myself after my Quassy debacle.

The day before the race we drove up to packet pick up and decided it would be a good idea to drive the bike course.  So off we went through Franconia Notch.  If you haven't been to NH, and more specifically to Franconia, you are missing out!  It is one of the most beautiful areas in the state!

The race venue is located at Cannon Mountain Ski Resort, located in a NH State Park.  We left the park and started driving the course.  We were warned of some rough pavement, so I was concerned that there would be classic NH pot holes that would swallow me and my bike completely.  That wasn't the case.  There were a few rough areas, but nothing out of the NH ordinary! When we got out on to Route 3 (I think that was the road), the State had decided it was time to grind the road and get ready to repave.  Out there was our good friend Kim Cole (AG Queen- on taper week for IM Tremblant 70.3 sweeping the breakdown lane which hadn't been ground)  We stopped to chat, then headed out to check out more of the course.  It is a beautiful tour of classic NH small towns and back roads.  It was visually stunning! After leaving Kim, we found the King of the Mountain Hill (more on that later), and then promptly managed to lose the course.  We figured we had seen most of it, so we headed back.

Next morning we got up early and headed to the course.  The swim was in one of the prettiest lakes around - Echo Lake.  It was a two loop swim, with a brief run across the sand to re-enter. As we were waiting for the swim start, a large black bear crossed over one of the ski slopes above us!  It was a very cool start to the day!  The swim went really well in my Blueseventy Helix.  After the swim, we ran about 1/4 of a mile up a hill to T1.  There was a small transition coming out of the swim where you could leave shoes for running up to T1.  I slipped those on and started the jog up to my bike.  I left transition and headed out on my bike.  I was going down the first "bumpy" hill, taking it easy - worried about the pavement (unnecessarily I might add) when I heard a loud "YEEHAW ROCK THE W"- as my hubby went screaming by me on the downhill!  All I could do was laugh!

The bike ride was remarkably challenging.  For those who've done it, I think this one was tougher than Quassy.  I  was moving pretty well, no pavement challenges, and doing quite well on the hills.  I was pretty happy how things were going.  One of the unique challenges of this race is the King of the Mountain challenge!  Mt. Eustis hill is steep and short.  They had timing mats at the bottom and top...the fastest under 40 male and female, and over 40 male and female racers won a KOM jersey!!!

Congrats to our friend Lisa for winning one of the jerseys!  After that section we entered the part of the course that we had not previewed.  Oops, big mistake!  On second thought, maybe it was a good thing I hadn't seen that next section!  It was hill after hill after hill!  And one of them, although not steep, was about 5 million miles long!  I did enjoy riding through one of the smaller towns where a large number of patrons were having their Father's Day Brunch out on a patio, and cheering wildly for all the racers!

I finally made it back to T2 and got ready for the run.  The run is totally off road, so no traffic to worry about.  There is a paved bike/walking path in Franconia Notch, which was closed to tourists for race day.  It was 3 miles down to Lafayette Campground, and then back up- a two loop course.  The 3 miles down to the campground loses elevation all the way down, but as you drop you have to go up and down over hills on the bike path.  Paving up and over the granite must have been easier than moving the rocks!  The painful part was getting back up to the top as you ran up and down over those same hills as you gained elevation!  It started raining while I was out there- but it wasn't uncomfortable.

I finished.  That was key after Quassy.  I placed second in my age group.  Now let me qualify that- there were only two of us in that age group....so as long as I finished, I was second!  : )   My time was nothing to write home about, but my goal was just to finish, and that I did.

Swim Start

I would highly recommend this race, especially if you're planning on doing IMLP!  It's a perfect lead up race!  It was highly organized, well run, and very, very challenging!  Congrats to Race Director Jeff Cole for a well orchestrated event!  It will be on our race calendar for next year!

Thanks to everyone who helped to get me here- Wattie Ink, Scott Bikes, Powerbar, Fuelbelt, KSwiss, Reynolds Wheels, Blue Seventy, ISM saddles and Speedfil!!!  It's amazing to work with all these great products and companies!  Huge thanks to all!