Race reports, adventures, travel, fun, misc...

For a course that was meant to be flat and fast this race beat the shit out of me. When expectations vs realty go head to head, reality wins. After having to drop out of Ironman NYC to take Stephanie to college I though that doing IM 70.3 Ireland would be a breeze. Wrong! It was still an awesome experience but I expected a sub 6 hour finish time and did not expect the pain I was in after the race.  The day started off to an incredible forecast that actually held up. 65* weather, chilly but with no wind. Very pleasant change from the last couple of days here. Chilly went to cold when I got in the ocean for the swim start. The pro's went off  at 7:00 AM  and males 40-49 were 2nd to last  at 7:50 . The announcer was very entertaining with our introduction ... "and now for the guys going through their mid life crisis that have traded in their Porsches for spandex". While we were in the water he goes "look at all of them in there warming up their wetsuits".

I'm sitting on a plane coming back from an incredible adventure and I just needed to write it up and share.  A friend of mine's personal goal is to summit Mt. Everest. Every time I see him we spend some time talking about mountain climbing.  Mt Rainier (pronounced Rain-air) in Washing State is a very popular and challenging climb and a great starting point for anybody looking to get into this hobby.  It's the tallest volcano and most heavily glaciated peak in the contiguous United States.  Mount Whitney in California, the tallest peak in the lower 48 at 15,505 feet is only 88 feet taller than Rainier.  So looking to breaking up my swim, bike, run routine and try something new I signed up with a guide company called  RMI last September for their 4 day Rainier Summit trip.   http://www.rmiguides.com .  Most of their trips sell out shortly after dates are published so you need to reserve these way in advance.  Frankly, after already spending a day hiking on Mt. Rainier a