Buckhorn

I'll be there! I do this race every year because its a nice course and its easy for my wife with the kids. We park close because we know good well I won't be done early.

Just watch out for the monster ants on the run. If you trip and fall they might carry you away!

Thanks for the heads up on the ants! We came down a few weekends ago and prerode the course. I like all of the rollers. The run course looks pretty boring though.

Look's like we will not get a break from the heat. Low Friday night is 77 degrees.

I'll be there suffering it out. 

Did this race last year and had a blast. I don't think I saw any ants though...

This might be a rough race for me. I'm giving blood in about an hour, I wonder how much that will affect me. Either way, I can blame it on that.

Maybe you mistook the ants for small dogs.

Until this year it had been 1000m. I think they shortened it because the date change means there is no chance of it being wetsuit legal and to attract people who aren't strong swimmers. I'm as slow as they come, but it's fine either way to me.

I'll be there and looks like bib #12. 

This will be my 2nd triathlon ever, so say hi if you see me.  I'm still trying to meet everyone and get a feel for the sport.

What's up Scottie.  Long time since the BMW days...

-Dan B

I thought i knew that screenname. nice work yesterday!

Had an ok swim, but developed a chest cramp which stuck with me the whole way. Bike was not bad and the run just wasn't enough to do the damage I wanted to do.

Good times.

Great event by FS Series. This was our first time at one of their races and we will definately be back!

Anyone have the distance on their garmin from the swim? Times seemed a little long for 750m.

"Had an ok swim, but developed a chest cramp which stuck with me the whole way. " This is very interesting because I experienced the same exact thing. My race never came together and think I over heated on the swim. Started cramping on the bike in my lower right ab and then it went to my chest during the run.

My wife had a great race and I was very proud of her. She now wants to do Mayo Lake. Anyone done that race?

Glad you liked it. And yes, even if you need to lie to me, tell me the swim was long. No real chest cramping, but I overheated bad during the swim. No problem keeping cool enough the rest of the race, though.

And I swear there were huge ants all over the trail on the dam last year. I don't know how they did it, but they were clearly gone. ...Or I was badly overheated last year and hallucinating.

I'm doing Mayo Lake as well and I did it two years ago. It's good too, but not as good as Buckhorn. If you have specators (or don't mind leaving them there) wear flip flops to the swim start, it's rocky. Don't get freaked out by the bushy feeling lake bed. (Watch that be gone too, then you'll really think I'm crazy.) And the year I did it they had race staff pulling us up the embankment at the swim finish.

The bike is about like Buckhorn, but I remember some traffic getting in the way. The run is a trail run which I like, just be ready for it.

I did see the ants. They we all by my car that was parked in the transition lot. Speaking of cars though, did you see the Prius in the lot on the run course? Guess they were running late for the race!

We will not be able to make it down to preride the course at Mayo. Can you give me any insight on the course? Is there more or less rollers than buckhorn? I thought buckorn only had one real hill and that was around mile 13/14 before you turn right to come back to the park. I did see the maps on the website and was not sure if they were accurate.

We will have to meet at Mayo. My buddy, wife and I will have on Central Virginia Endurance kits like my profile pic.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107462394

forgot to start my garmin but you get the picture

I've race mayo for the past 2-3yrs ..I forget...love this race, altho its always right before my IM races making it tough to give 110% to avoid any injury!

Max speed of 3,792.6 mph! You are one fast dude... lol Thanks for the info though. Looks to be even more rolling than Buckhorn.

I'm going to do Mayo Lake as well.  Hope to do a bit better at that race, but I'm not a trail runner so we'll see how that goes. Any advice for the run?

I had a calf cramp at mile 13 on the bike and had to back off a lot, but OK other than that.  Needed more water on the bike!  I lost 6lbs (water I presume) by Sunday morning so certainly need more hydration during/after the race...  Oh well live and learn.

Any good open water swims in the area?  I'm decent in the pool but haven't been able to translate this to open water.  I really struggle getting comfortable (not being able to see), and sighting to swim in a straight line.  Most immediate improvement for me will come in the swim, my run is really weak but that will just take training volume - not an easy fix...

Great time!  Enjoying the sport so far.

I had a nasty cramp at mile 7 on the bike too. Eventually it went away and i was able to ride as usual.

I think a good place to practice open water swimming is at Jordan Lake on the Seaforth recreation area. Safest thing to do is to swim parallel to the buoys for time. The buoys there are great because they are attached by logs that are equidistant from each other so you can work on speed as well. Unfortunately, I have no idea what the distance between these logs is. Parking is 6 bucks for the day unless you have a yearly pass ($50). My wife and I are starting to do this regularly, it really helps, especially, in the murky zero visibility waters of central North Carolina.

We will also be at Mayo Lake with you guys!