Into the Great Wide Open, Under a Sky So Blue

What a glorious weekend! Gorgeous sunny weather and a short rain on Saturday- perfect summer weather. I thoroughly enjoy Tennessee summers! Seriously, they are good to the last drop. Living in Mississippi for four years awakened me to what "hot & humid" really can mean, and I am thankful that I no longer experience it. Visiting NYC in August a couple years ago reminded me of what I do and do not want out of summer (cliff note: do want lots of lakes, rooftop pools, clean cool rivers, and secluded swimming holes to play in/ do not want crowded, dirty environment).

Anywho, this weekend was all kinds of perfect and here's a bit of why: a last minute triathlon entry to the Old Hickory Tri!

Pay no attention to my face; I don't know what it's doing. SO, running. It was split into two run segments. The order of events went like this: swim, run, bike, run. The last run was the hardest segment for me.
Look ma- no goggles! I 'm down with some open water swimming. Love it, actually.

Thunder Cat the fixie and I went up against some fancy, awesome road bikes and I'm not gonna lie- we held our own. I was happily surprised when the bike route led us by the Hancock House, where Jon and I had our rehearsal dinner! It also wound through the rolling hills of Hendersonville, surrounded by green fields, lake views, and right past Johnny Cash's estate. Pretty cool.

All in all a way to start the day, and the last weekend in June. What a great feeling, having friends cheer you on across a finish line (thank you, Christy M and B!)! Above, are two buddies (Cary & Matt) that raced with/ way ahead of me. They kicked a#%!! Really, they did. I tried. Or rather, I tri.