Old Hickory Lakes Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Well, what can I say? Swimming does not come naturally for me, and this was my first OWS. I chose this race in part because it was a time-trial start.

I knew, because of the heat and the nerves and my already high HR, that it was not going to be my best swim, and that proved true. I waded in and started swimming, trying my best just to keep my HR under control. I focused on staying outside and out of traffic.

I think this was the right strategy, but it certainly added distance to the course. I'm happy that I didn't panic during the swim, even if my pace just wasn't where I wanted it to be. I never had to stop and collect myself, like in my other two races, and I certainly wasn't the slowest in the water.

RUN1 (I'll describe here)

Well, after the swim we had to run to T.5 and put on our shoes. I decided to take extra time and put on socks as well, because I just haven't practice running or biking without. Then the misery started. It was already 85 degrees and 75% humidity, and the run started out straight uphill. It killed me.

Halfway through the mile and a half run, I was regretting choosing this race. I just could not keep up a good pace, even on the slight downhills we encountered. Eventually, I reached the main transition area and was just happy to see my bike.

Be more comfortable on the swim and stay more to the inside. I think this will come in time.

That said, for my first OWS I'm not terribly dissatisfied. Oh, and it was definitely a long swim. We were ordered by estimated swim time, and nobody in the 2 min/100 group came close to 8 minutes.

Left my goggles in Tennessee (think that's a country song)

Of all the things I will take from this race it will be the feeling of true relief at getting on the bike. It was the first moment in the race where I felt like I could simultaneously relax (from a nerves standpoint) and really push it.

I'm still not a top-tier kind of cyclist, or even close, but I just felt really comfortable on the bike. Creating a 20 mph breeze didn't hurt either.

Man this was a fun, if short course. The first 5 miles were kind of boring, over a gently rolling section of US31. But then it turn in towards the lake, and through the neighborhoods, and there were plenty of fun hills.

I got passed by a few, but passed more competitors myself, which felt good, especially when those I passed were on a really nice tri-bike.

One section of the route actually made me whoop with glee: a fast downhill (37mph) that bottoms out to an S-curve. Man that was fun. There was also a hill that ended in a sharp turn to the right, where the course photographers were positioned. It will be fun to see whether I look cool or goofy coming around the bend.

There was, of course, a difficult hill just before transition, so I didn't get the chance to "spin out" and loosen up the legs (like it would have mattered).

Nothing - hydrated well and even managed a GU.

Well, my back, which didn't hurt me at all on the killer 38 miler a couple of weekends ago, really stiffened up on me. It was all I could do to hobble over to transition.

Oh, you know, speed up.

Well, the sun baked every ounce of energy and motivation out of me on the final 1.5 mile run. Glad to see it cooked nearly everyone else as well. It ended up being a not-horrible pace for me, given the circumstances.

Suck it up princess?

Quickly headed back to the hotel to pick up Sam, the Australian Shepherd, and bring him back to enjoy the festivities (it was great socialization for him).

He got a (human) cookie from the food tables. Lucky Sam!


The pre-race nerves, and the heat.


A solid race organized by Team-Magic - will consider one more of their events this year.