We staged a couple of informal swim practice sessions prior to the event, but overall, everyone was on their own.  In fact, we never practiced the transitions prior to race day and even then it was just a verbal communication of how we would pass the ankle strap (that held our timing chip) in the transition area.

Going into the days before the race, we learned that there were 12 relay teams that were registered to compete in the event.  Normally there are only a handful, so I was secretly (or not so secretly) hoping for a chance for our team to place in the top 3 for an award.  Now that we had 11 others to race against, our chances went down.  Not to worry, we had a decent enough team, and who knows how good the competition would be?

Also in the days leading up to the race, I learned that my bike (Felt B16) had been involved in a recall.  Apparently there have been 7 problems with the fork (the part that holds the front wheel and goes through the frame and holds the handlebars) that involves a construction flaw with the carbon fiber and has caused the fork to crack.  If this happens during a ride, a crash would be imminent.  I had been in communication with TrySports several times to get the fork replaced, but it wasn’t going to happen before the race.  I spent the last couple of weeks training on the trainer to prevent a crash, but I had to take my chances with the race.  Hopefully this issue will be fixed very soon so I can get back out there!

Other things special to this event were the many friends that had chosen this race to be their first triathlon ever.  Chris Bugart, Wendy Arias (both friends through Melissa) and Melissa McConnell (Melissa’s neighbor) all were racing their first ever triathlon!  And Scott Helms came out to race the event as well.  Scott made it his personal goal to beat our relay team by himself.  I also knew one other competitor, my chiropractor, Dr. Adam Cooper!

This was a first year race and apparently they had expected around 200 participants.  When the registration numbers reached 380, they were forced to close off the event.  The problem with this many racers in a triathlon with a pool swim is that only one swimmer can start at a time.  The first athlete entered the water at 7:00 and the last one not until 8:52!

I look a little evil this early in the morning!

Wendy, me and Melissa after setting up transition

Scott and I doing some "trash talking"

chilling before the race

transition filling up

Sally was fast, so she was seeded towards the beginning of the race, so we were to start our race at 7:20:30.  Scott was 1 minute behind us.  I knew that Scott’s goal was to beat us, so I did not want to let him catch me on the bike.

ready to go!

Melissa and I waited in our transition area until 7:24, when we expected Sally to come out of the pool area.  Once we saw her, I was ready with my bike and Melissa switched the ankle strap from Sally’s ankle to mine.  I ran out of transition area, mounted my bike and took off.  The course was fairly straightforward early on the course with some flat spots and some downhills.  I was able to pass several people, but there were a few that passed me as well.  Around halfway, the one I did not want to see on the course appeared and blew by!  Scott had made up the minute difference and was now gaining time on us.  I pushed to keep up with him, but to no avail.

I arrived back at transition area where Sally transferred the ankle strap from my ankle to Melissa’s.  She took off for the run course and I was told Scott was only a couple minutes ahead.  Fingers crossed Melissa would have a great run and Scott might hit a wall.

Our star swimmer having fun!

Melissa & Sally waiting in T2

T2

T2

Scott ended up finishing at 1:10:12 and Melissa came across the line with 1:13:36 for our team.  3:24 faster.  Well done Scott!

Melissa heading for the finish!

doing damage for next time...

doing damage for next time...

We saw the preliminary results with 6 relay teams finished and we were in 3rd place.  We were hopeful to hold onto that placement.  Unfortunately for us, a team came in 31 seconds faster than us and bumped us to 4th.

After all is said and done, I am extremely happy with 4th out of 12.  And with zero practice on transitions, we tied 3 other teams for fastest T1 and we had the fastest T2 of all the 12 teams.  Great job Melissa and Sally!

Oh, and Chris Bugart finished his first triathlon with a time of 1:49:47 (he was worried they would pull him off the course if he didn’t finish in 2:30!).  Great job beating his goal time by over 10 minutes!!!

Go Chris!

Chris heading for the finish!

Melissa McConnell finished with a time of 1:24:23 (she was worried about a 2:00 penalty for forgetting her race number on the run, but it doesn’t appear to have been assessed) and Wendy Arias finished with 1:35:49!  Great times and not just for first timers!

Dr. Cooper did great too, with a time of 1:14:46!

We capped off the morning by meeting up at The Flying Biscuit Cafe in Ballantyne, NC for food.  Jenn, Mia and Sadie met up with us for the delicious meal.

Mia at The Flying Biscuit

Next up is Assault on Cherokee International Triathlon and I am a little nervous.  I have not been swimming as much as I should be and I have having problems with my Sciatic nerve that is causing pain and numbness in my left foot and leg.  This is aggravated when I run, so I am under doctor’s orders not to do any running for a while.  This could get interesting and hard!

trainer with bike

trainer ride by jennks68 at Garmin Connect – Details.

here is the climbing block I also got at the REI garage sale!

Things I would like to do:

The most important thing I want to do in life is to help other people. Something I feel most passionate about is organ donation. I pray that whatever happens to me in life or how I die, that every single piece of my organs and body will be able to go to someone and help change or save a life. I guess this wouldn’t be on my life list since I will not be alive when it happens, but that is a huge desire of mine. I have been thinking lately about bone marrow donation and/or kidney donation, which you can do while you’re alive and be ok. If you have any questions or concerns about organ donation, just ask me. If I don’t know the answer, I will find out. I have strong stories about the miracles it creates. Now on to my list which is in no particular order and I add to it often. Sometimes, I add stuff I did that wasn’t on the list just because it’s so freakin’ cool I don’t know why I didn’t have it on the list to begin with.

1.) Read the whole Bible

2.) Meet Ellen Degeneres, attend her show taping

3.) Visit as many Hard Rock Cafes as possible: Already been to New York City, Key West, Gatlinburg, Myrtle Beach, Atlantic City, Orlando, Cancun, Puerto      Vallarta, Jamaica, Cabo San Lucas, Las Vegas, Niagara Falls, NY, Niagara Falls, Ontario (I passed the one in Philly, but didn’t stop and eat there)

4.) Go bungee jumping

5.) Run the Cooper River Bridge Run (completed in 2008)

6.) Run the Cooper River Bridge Run in under an hour

7.) Run a 1/2 marathon

8.) Run a marathon

9.) Learn Ballroom dancing

10.) Take a hot air balloon ride

11.) Watch the ball drop in NYC, actually be there in Time Square

12.) Go the Macy’s Day parade

13.) Go to the Mall of America

14.) Memorize all of the Presidents of the US (completed March 2010)

15.) Go somewhere new on vacation each year ( So far so good since 2003, Key West, Cancun, Orlando, Puerto Vallarta, Jamaica, Las Vegas,  Cabo San Lucas, Bermuda, Niagara Falls )

16.) Go skydiving (completed on June 22, 2005 with my mom in Chester)

17.) Swim with the dolphins (completed in Cancun, August 2004)

18.) Get married (completed August 21, 2004)

19.) Have kids

20.) Go on a canopy tour, where you slide down zip lines ( completed in Puerto Vallarta September 2006 )

21.) Jump off a waterfall ( completed in Puerto Vallarta September 2006, it was small but a waterfall )

22.) Buy a truck for Ryan ( completed June 2009 )

23.) Build my own house with Ryan

24.) Hike up a mountain ( completed in 2005, it was a small Mt in Hot Springs, NC, but a mountain none-the-less, and we were tired hiking up the trail)

25.) Visit a planetarium

26.) Learn to play tennis

27.) Learn to play golf with Ryan

28.) Take Ryan to a Cleveland Browns game

29.) Visit all the stadiums in SEC (visited Neyland Stadium, TN)

30.) Go on a real safari

31.) Swim with sharks (me in a cage)

Places I would like to go:

1.) Go to Paris with my mom

2.) NYC, see the Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Rockefeller Center and the Christmas Tree, see a Broadway show, see the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes (completed in December of 2005)

3.) Jamaica (completed August 2007)

4.) Hollywood

5.) San Francisco

6.) Hawaii

7.) St. Lucia

8.) Fiji

9.) Tahiti & Bora Bora

10.) Grand Turks & Caicos Islands

11.) Mexico (Cancun August 2004 on our honeymoon, Puerto Vallarta September 2006 with great friends, Cabo San Lucas 2008)

12.) Chicago

13.) Visit the little NC cities in the Nichalos Sparks books

14.) Niagra Falls (completed April 2010)

15.) The Grand Canyon, and walk out onto the skywalk (completed Feb. 2008)

16.) Las Vegas (completed in Feb. 2008)

17.) Mt Rushmore

18.) New Orleans

19.) I would like to visit all 50 states at least once. (I know this covers lots of those up there, but those are specific sites/places.)

20.) Aruba

Well, it turns out that we would have had to go way back into town to ride the boats, so we were just picked up by the 4×4 and taken to the mules.  The 4×4 was a huge Mercedes off road truck and held about 8 people in the back.  My seat belt was broken, so I have to hold on to the “Oh Shit” handles for dear life.  The people here drive just about as crazy as any foreign country I have been to – which is to say they drive a bit erratically, as least for my comfort zone.  But that is part of the fun!

Once we got to the mules, they outfitted us with helmets, gloves, harnesses and carabiners.  Then we went to the mules and after demonstrating how to get on one and ride it, we met our mules.  My mule’s name was Tequila.  Perfect!  Tequila’s aim was to pass every other mule that she could.  Which was fine by me, it was fun!  We started about 10th or so and we arrived at the top in second place.  And that was only because she didn’t have room to pass that front mule.  And I wished that she could because that mule kept farting!

Once at the top, they showed us how to correctly zip line.  Let me tell you that flying through the air over a Mexican jungle is an experience like no other.  The first couple of zip lines I was mainly concerned with doing it right, but then I got to look around and down to enjoy the sights.

The rappelling was about as much fun as the zip lines, but was somewhat more technical.  We rappelled down 2 100′ waterfalls, one being down a rock face, the other a free fall, both into the river below.  The water was pleasantly cold.  I wished that I had remembered to pack my Keens, because I had to get my running shoes wet!  No worries though, the Mexican sun dried them right up!

On the ride back to the hotel, our driver stopped at a tequila factory and we learned how it was made and the different types.  And got free samples of each!

I would have pictures to share, but they wanted $60 for about 15 photos, and I am too cheap to buy that!

All in all it was an experience of a lifetime that I won’t forget.  I would recommend this to anyone who gets the chance.

I was able to run on the treadmill yesterday morning.  I only went two miles to try and not push it.  It felt great, so I planned to run 2.5 today.  About a mile into it, my shin started hurting, so I jumped off the treadmill and onto a stationary bike and rode 10 miles.

Hopefully I will be able to work through this and still be okay for the marathon.  Time will tell.

So we went into town today for a bit of shopping.  Let me tell you, the street vendors are pushy.  As we walked by one store, a man was offering Cuban cigars and when we told him “no thanks,” he said, “Ah, you must be from Chicago.”  When I said, “no,” he said, “that is why you are so white, no?”  So I guess by the color of my skin, I must be from Chicago and just never knew it!

View from the balcony

Ah...relaxation

You may or may not be aware, but next Friday, I will participate in the Blue Ridge Relay race that is a 208 mile course that stretches from Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia to downtown Asheville, NC.  The run is split into 36 “legs” that the runners complete in succession.  I am running with 5 other team members and I will run in the 3^rd position and run a total of 6 of the legs that will account for over 25 miles of the course.  The race starts Friday morning and we will run throughout the night and finish sometime Saturday afternoon.

Our team decided to put our training and running madness to work to help a good cause.  My brother-in-law, Alex Sullivan, is one of the team members that will run with me.  He suggested that we raise money to benefit Muscular Dystrophy.  He is being “locked up” and needs to post “bail”.  His bailout will go to benefit MDA.  Please see his message below and consider donating to this great cause.  If you do decide to donate, please let me know so that I can thank you, as I won’t have a way to track donations on his website.

Thank you for your time!

Kevin

 I’m proud to tell you that I’m being locked up…that’s right, I’m going behind bars to help Jerry’s Kids© and MDA. To be released on good behavior I have to raise bail and I need your help! Alex

P.S. I’m counting on you, click here to donate.

All you have to do is click here to make a secure, online donation before 09/23/09. Your donation will help families living in our community and help guarantee me an early release. I can’t wait to add you to my list of contributors.

Thanks in advance for your help. Don’t hesitate to call or email me with any questions.

Together we’ll make a difference,

If the link above does not work, please cut and paste the address below into the address bar of your Internet browser.

https://www.joinmda.org/rockhill2009/alexsullivan/