Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea

This update combines a few events over the past 3 weeks. In other words, it is a hodgepodge of photos that don't really go together.

Rebecca took me up to Baltimore to meet her mother's 9 siblings and to help celebrate her cousin Josh's graduation. She painted her toes for the occasion.


"Spaghetti? I don't know what you are talking about." Pirate had a little snack but didn't do a good job hiding the evidence.


Rebecca and I took a walk around the neighborhood during Josh's graduation party. As we made our way back to the house we heard lots of yelling and cheering. We found Rebecca's 83 year old grandmother playing beer pong. Nice form!


Grandma's got skillz. She helped win her match.


The Gretch gives us a wink to let us know that her and Steve have this match under control.


A mix of siblings and cousins...not sure who the guy is in the stripped shirt that is looking on disapprovingly.


Upon returning to Chapel Hill I had two weeks before a triathlon in Asheville. Off to the lake with Rob and Katie for a swim...


..and to play with some kittens! Rob's parent's are fostering a mother and her new litter until they are old enough to be adopted.






Speaking of animals, Lamont here is my new buddy for a month or so. He likes to perch on chairs and watch me type away at my computer.


He also loves to play with and sometimes court paper towels. He is named after a character on the classic TV show "Sanford and Son."

This weekend Rob and I drove to Asheville for my triathlon. Since Rebecca is now living out of her van we stayed with some of her closest friends.

This is Amity and James.


This is Sachi.


And this is Holden.

It was nice and sunny on the day of my race with the temps in the low to mid 80's. This was the first time that I have entered this race so I really didn't know how challenging the bike and run courses would be. I knew the swim would suck because that is my weakest event, but I was unsure as to just how hilly the bike would be.

Enka Lake near the Biltmore Estate.


These people had the best seat in the house.


There were about 330 participants in the race that were split up into 4 waves to start the race. I was in the first wave of swimmers, about 80 of us started the 750 meter swim in chest deep water.


The field thins out after about 250 meters. Three minutes after the first wave the second wave starts. Swimming 750 meters is challenging enough for me, then you add 60 some people swimming on top of you and things can get hairy. I finished the swim in a disappointing 22 minutes.


This is me finishing up the swim portion and making my way to my bike to start the 17.5 mile ride. The course had two big hills with fast descents that thinned out the field. I finished the ride in 1 hour and 3 minutes.


I really enjoyed the run portion of the race because 2 of the 3 miles were on gravel and dirt trails that went in and out of a wooded area and circled the lake. Unfortunately, the middle mile was on concrete and contain a demoralizing hill. I finished the 5K run (3.1 miles) in 25 minutes.


Including transition times, my unofficial time was 1:50. After I crossed the finish line I jumped back in the lake to cool off. Thanks to Rebecca and Rob for cheering me on and to Rob for taking photos.