The Mountain Bike (9 miles), Cross Country Run (4.5 miles), and Mountain Ride (15 miles) Triathlon in Haw Ridge outside of Knoxville on April 28 was a blast!!!!   I jumped off Rudy and ran in the last 1/2 mile .....we crossed the finish line and Rudy's heart rate was already down to 61!   All three legs of the competition were over the same basic multi-use trails.... very technical, er, dangerous course.    All of the hot dog  mountain bike racers came in bloody ( really bloody).  They all said they fell 3-4 times. I proceeded very cautiously ( I was scared to death!)  I  crashed once.  Hit my head on the side of the mountain, bounced and hit the trail..... which was better than the alternative.... going off the side down a vertical drop to the lake.  Caught my bike on its way down.  Didn't slow me down much tho'.  We placed 2nd in the ironman competition. ( only 4 competed in the ironman division- all women - everyone else was part of a team - what a bunch of Sissies!)  
 I had the fastest cross country run time of the ironman division.  I actually finished the course well ahead of a few teams!  A lady from Virginia beat me out of first place.  I tailed up a couple of mountains.....bad mistake for me and Rudy.... she cantered her Arab up both of them!  But, Rudy and I are flatlanders and she and her horse train in the mountains!  She ended up finishing 10 minutes ahead of me. 
I need some coaching on the mountain bike.  I am pretty pitiful.  Learned a lot in this race tho'.  My technical skills really improved by mile 4-5.  It was either learn to handle the bike or die!  It was quite the upper body workout!   But I could not pass up the chance to do a few more miles in that terrain so after we finished the race, I went back up the mountain and did another 12 mile loop on Rudy.  Overall I covered a little over 40 miles.   9 mile bike, 4.5 mile run, 15 mile ride plus 12 more conditioning miles.  I managed to eat well prior to and during the event. Did my pasta/carbo pre-load Sat night, slugged my electrolytes and chomped power bars Sunday.  I had a great time!   I have GOT to move to the mountains somewhere!  I feel like Rudy and I belong there!
 
The very best news is that I am not sore!  Knees are great!  Legs working fine!  I even went to the gym this afternoon and did 30 minutes on the stair stepper.  No problems!   I know I am a sick pup.  ........ addicted to sweat I think.  If anyone hears of any more events like this tri' going on anywhere.... let me know!!
 
We won't be coming to Biltmore.  :(   Some things came up with my work and I could not get away.   See yall at Longstreet's Charge!!!
Cindy and Rudy

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