Hills of Hades

Stone Mountain Park is a well established icon of Atlanta recreation. Its main attraction is the giant mound of granite rising from the earth like a prehistoric artifact. It is surrounded by a lake, walking and biking paths, camping sites and a newly established amusement park. In the evenings, they project a laser show on the side of the mountain where the portraits of Confederate Heros are carved. If you ever visit Atlanta, you must experience it.

Stone Mountain is also a favorite location of exercise enthusiasts who like a challenge. You can hike up the granite mound and back down again, or you can walk or cycle around the base of the mountain on rather rigorous and hilly paths. On Saturday, Rachel and I joined our team for a 20 mile bike ride around the base of the mountain. Then, we walked 3 miles. It was intense. When I say intense, I mean, I think I visited Hades. At least, a few words that belong in Hades may have escaped my lips. It was well over 100 degrees outside and hilly and... intense.

On Sunday, we met our team at Mary Alice Park on Lake Lanier for more open water swimming and a chance to try a full transition (swim to bike to run). The first thing we discovered that morning was that our tires were low. We rode the entire 20 miles at hilly Stone Mountain on half the air we needed!!! We'll just call this drag training. So we added air to our tires and the ride was much better. We swam 1 mile in wake filled water (the boats were out and about, making our swim rough), biked 10, and walked 2.

We're learning some great tricks for transitioning, like have an extra bottle of water handy to rinse off your feet after the swim so sand doesn't tear them up the rest of the day. Isn't that smart? Or, lay your towel out with all of your gear lined up in order so you can stand on the towel and change without having to think too hard. Or, check your bike to make sure it's in good shape before you start the race. :P

I wish I had a picture of Monday night's swim practice, but I don't. Monday night we met the team at the pool, where the coaches had removed the lane lines. They set up three buoys so we had a practice course to swim around in the pool and asked us to practice the race by swimming around them at race pace for 20 minutes. It was so crowded and there were so many bodies touching, at first I was confused about what was going on, but really, it was sabotage! The coaches had recruited former Team In Training triathletes to attack us. They swam right in my way. They grabbed my toes. They grabbed my legs and tried to pull me down, but I kicked the heck out of them! This was to simulate what it may feel like at the beginning of the race. We should expect it to be crowded and for people to be very pushy, trying to get their advantage, so they were trying to prepare us for the mental competition on top of the physical. I feel sorry for whoever those people were that grabbed me, because I really kicked them. That's what you gotta do! After that, we had a relay race around the buoys. It was so fun!

Tuesday was Rachel's birthday, so to celebrate we went on an 18 mile bike ride with our friends Karen and Bones. (Yes, we are gluttons for punishment.) We rode on the PATH that leads to Stone Mountain Park from Decatur. We didn't have time to do the whole route because we waited for evening, when the temperatures were soooo much cooler!!! While on the ride, I rubbed the sweat out of my eye with my bike glove. Wednesday morning, I woke up with pink eye. I don't know if it came from the glove, the pool, or the lake, but that blessed pink eye gave me two days off from work!!! Because it's highly contagious, I was not permitted on the hospital premises for a full 24 hours after my first dose of eye drops. :D I'm much better now. And well rested.