2023 West Point Lake Olympic Tri: Running from the Pterodactyl

This adventure began with a drive to West Point Lake in Georgia where I had registered for a campsite to sleep the night before the race. The drive was uneventful and I loved the setting of my campsite where I set up my eno and settled in for an early nights rest. You can watch and listen to my first hand report I recorded immediately after finishing up camp set up.

The next morning, I:

• Rose from sleep
• Ate breakfast
• Donned my
• Vulcan Triathlete Club kit
• Cycling shoes
• Cycling helmet
• Put on a headlamp and realized I should have remembered to bring the lights that mount to the bike
• Grabbed my transition backpack
• Rode to transition
• Set up transition
• Put on my wetsuit and discovered a tick in the space between my big toe and its neighbor.

I was the first competitor to show up on this beautiful morning. I was stoked, chilled, and prepared. The race started.

The race was well managed. We ran across a dam with rumble strips across the whole lane to encourage folks to slow down. I feigned sounds as if I was a car, but I didn't get a single reaction from bystanders or other triathletes. I thought, "come on people, that was funny!". Oh well. Truly, the people were gracious. A good part of the run was on paved trails through the trees. At one point, I noticed a shadow of bird wings on the pavement just a few feet in front of me and they were moving forward at the same pace as I. My mind drifting to a scene as if I was running in the forest in the jurassic period and the wings belonged to a pterodactyl. Then, the hawk got bored sped up and let me see him in his full glory, albeit, a bit less daunting than the imagined pterodactyl.

I podiumed, but only because my age group competitors keep reducing in count. Lucky me, but a podium is a podium!

Results

May 7, 2023: West Point Lake, GA West Point Lake Olympic Triathlon
		Distance: 1.5k I measured 1.7k Time: 47:34 Pace: 2:33/yd
	Transition 1	Time: 3:42
		Distance: 40k I measured 40.6k Time: 1:30:04 Rate: 16.8 mph
	Transition 2	Time: 2"08
		Distance: 10k I measured 10.2k Time: 1:17:01 Rate: 12:10/mile
	Weather	Fair 62° 84% Humidity