Nations Tri with Kevin

This is the third year I have done Nations Tri with Kevin either as his primary escort or a training partner. The heavy rains for almost 4 days turned the Potomac from its normal, chocolate milk-like, diesel smelling, body of water coursing through the Nations Capitol into a swollen, muddy, sewage infested mess. Therefore........the swim was cancelled and with more than 6200 athletes the race became a duathlon.

Kevin in T1

Kevin and I arrived early so we could take advantage of the few handicap parking slots along Ohio Drive and in front of transition. After parking we went to the bike rack and prepped our run gear and last few bike items and then kicked back a bit to relax while we waited to queue up along with 6k of our friends to wait for our turn to start the run in to transition to get on the bike.

With so many athletes doing a Du with a Run-Bike-Run scenario was not possible so every 15 seconds a dozen or so athletes were let loose to run to their bikes from the entry to transition. This was reasonably efficient and Kevin and I had not real problems so we just walked real fast to get to the bike.

We kitted out and rolled the tandem AKA Lucy for Two out of T1 and on to bike course that started right next to the Korean War Memorial. We were on the bike and started to push hard to keep the pace up. Unlike last year the weather today was hot with the sun burning off the fog. Both of us were working hard on the bike and passing more than passed us and we finished the 40k in 1:12 and change. Not too bad as Kevin's cycling and balance have improved since 2010.

To our disappointment the run portion did not go as well. The heat was wearing Kevin down a bit so we struggled through the run and had to walk a bit more than we wanted. Kevin was tough and gutted it out to the many cheers from his Team Z pals (http://www.triteamz.com/) and hundreds of others who have overcome many obstacles to be part of the race.

We crossed the line and Kevin received his finishers medal and some much needed fluids to speed recovery. After a great post-race snack we headed back to pick up our gear and head home.

Post Race with Finisher Medal

Kevin, me, and Lucy for Two on Ohio Drive

JOCMO: Hammerin' with Kevin on Clara Barton Parkway and passing a lot of people on fancy rigs and hearing the cheers and comments like "I wish I had an extra set of legs"