Heart O' Dixie Triathlon 2009

Interesting weekend at the races.

I traveled to Louisville, MS for the 30th edition of the Heart O' Dixie Triathlon this past weekend. I spent Friday night at the Lake Tiak O' Khata Inn, on the shores of Lake Tiak O' Khata....a "resort" in the middle of nowhere in east central Mississippi. I had pre-race dinner with Stephanie R. (who would finish 4th in AG), Alisha W. (who dropped out after bike because of ankle injury) , Brandon W. (who would finish 8th OA), Melanie H. (who finished 6th in AG), Richard Y. (who finished 2nd in AG), and Patrick A (who would finish 3rd OA). None of that rubbed off on Larry, though!

The race would be from point-to-point-(to-point-to-point)....1/2 mile horseshoe shaped swim in Lake Tiak O' Khata, a 27.5-mile bike south on Hwy 15 (through the town of Noxapater) to Philadelphia, then a 7-mile run to the finish.

The notable feature of this race is that it finishes at the Neshoba County Fair, already in progress. The run actually enters the fairground, snakes around the various cabins (yes, the Neshoba County Fair is apparently a 2-week destination vacation for some!), then onto a ~3/4 mile dirt horse track, complete with grandstands and livestock on the infield! It's something!

There was a big crowd for the race, perhaps the largest field ever. The weather was hot!

For me....a good swim (tried to keep things in check). The bike ride went well....~20 mph over rolling hills....fastest bike leg in a while for me. As it turned out, though, I was happy with 20 mph as the race was going along, but nearly everybody else went faster than 22 mph. Too bad! Heat got the best of me on the hilly run. Familiar tale. I told Coach Justin to speak up and say "NO" the next time I get to talking about a hot weather race.

Next up....Beach Bum Triathlon in Hilton Head Island, SC next weekend. Surely, I can do better at 500m swim, 6-mile bike, 3-mile run! I'm going to call it Ironman 9.3.