Random Thoughts on Tennessee

* It’s all green and rolly here. Seriously in hours of driving all over the place, I never saw a flat spot. Also incredibly beautiful!

* I felt like a true California girl driving through this Southern area belting out Lady Gaga along with the radio.

* Knoxville is an adorable town – lovely downtown area with restaurants and a farmers market I hit on Saturday morning. Scenic greenways for walking, running and biking. River views. And the weekend weather was to die for – 70ish with no humidity!

* The Rev3 race venue was well selected and set up nicely for access to hotels and the race sites. My hotel was an escalator ride away from the expo and finish line.

* The Rev3 timing utterly sucked. As most folks who tried to track us saw, it was impossible to get real-time information after all. My swim time was wrong. My finish time was uploaded HOURS after I was done. And the data is simply not well presented – instead of showing your swim, bike and run times, they are only added to your accumulated race time total. It’s hard to do math after you race. Very very hard. [To add to this, I thought the advertised benefit to Rev3 races was the partnership with Trakkers to provide us with real time GPS tracking data. In fact, this is not currently available, except for the little green people sponsored by Trakkers, and it didn’t even always work well for them.] Disappointing for a race that is sponsored by a timing/tracking company!

* I never thought I’d say it was possible but…the bike course was harder than Wildflower. Yes, such a thing exists. The half course *may* have been similar or easier – I can’t say as I’ve never ridden either one. But the Wildflower course offers at least a few flat areas, as well as longer shallower hills. This was relentless rollers of the likes we don’t even have in California. My hat is off to you, Tennessee! No wonder Missy is such a damn strong cyclist, living out there.

* The weekend would not have been the same without friends, new and old. It was wonderful to see Rachelle, Dave, Meredith and Wes again and to finally meet Ray. And sharing the whole experience with Kate O, who seems to exude enviable grace whether she’s dressed up for dinner or fresh off the race course, made it a blast. Now if only I’d met Missy!!!

* This was my first race going completely sockless and I’m a convert. Other than one little blister from the run – and now I know somewhere else in the shoe to lube up – it was delightful!

* I’m sitting here at the airport waiting for my flight home and really wishing there were pedicure stations here. My tootsies need some pampering and I never seem to find the time to get it done at home. Plus, I’m too scared of what the ladies are saying about my feet that I can’t understand.

Race report, coming soon!