Freakin' Eurekan

This weekend was the 2nd annual Eurekan Mulisport Festival in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. This is a 3-day event that consists of a short sprint tri on Friday afternoon, a hilly century ride on Saturday and a 10K run on Sunday. In order to attain the title of "Eurekan," one had to complete all three events. A gang of the Red Ladies went down there last year and became the charter Eurekans. Many of the same group went down again to retain that title.

I was one that attended, but I didn't intend to defend the title. My training plan called for only 60 miles on the bike this weekend, so I opted to do the shorter 58 mile ride instead. I did do the tri as well, as I figured it would be good to go through the tri motions again since I hadn't raced since the end of June.

The tri consisted of a 300-yard swim, 7 mile bike and 2 mile run. This race feels much longer than the short distances would imply. The swim was easy and straight forward, but the bike was amazingly hilly for six miles. And, the run wound around a golf course, which felt much longer than two miles. I managed to finish 30 seconds faster than last year, which was a little disappointing, as I thought I was a lot stronger now than last year. I still placed in my age group (2nd), and amazingly enough, there were 13 old ladies competing (10-year age groups).

I started out on the bike ride, and it became apparent very quickly that my legs still felt shot. I debated turning around at the first SAG that was about 20 miles out. 56 miles were not really a big deal, but I recalled only too well what the last 20 miles of the course was like: two long and fairly steep climbs back to back, then a corkscrew uphill continuous climb all the way back into town. I just couldn't stomach it this year. I still felt so weary.

I turned around and added a little extra by exploring the "Scenic Outlook" route, which rounded out to 43 total miles. Oh, well. I got back to the hotel, packed up and stopped by my mom's on the way back to KC. Once there, I promptly took an hour and a half nap. Yes, I was tired!

I figure that weekend was the most expensive sprint tri ever since I had paid for the entire event ($130). The only thing I did was the tri, so factoring in hotel, gas and food, that tri averaged about $36/mile. It was good to swim in a pack of thrashing girls and spending time with the gals is always a great time, so it was worth it.

Next stop: Louisville. <gulp>