Callaway Gardens Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

As we line up in waves I notice that most of the orange capped clydes are not going out to the deeper water by the buoy? I decide to head over there thinking it will be nice clear sailing - not so much. As the call for 2 minutes comes at least 15-20 people crowd around the buoy, so I ease back thinking what I have just seen in the previous waves is way more than I am up for at the start.

I let the main herd take off, I breast stroke it for about 15 yds and then it s "go time" - relatively speaking. I do pretty good sighting heading for the first buoy, breathing is good, not going to hard so I feel like I am in control. I round the first buoy, literally on top of it and head for the next. As I breathe to my right I notice a guy 30 yds to my right and I think Uh Oh I am going the wrong way - no dummy he is going the wrong way! So I breast stroke for a few yards and get my bearings and now the few people that I was in front of are now UPON me, and I mean UP ON me, one guy grabs my leg another cruises across my back, going where I do not know but I am getting a little out of sorts. So head down and swim like crazy for the next buoy - another good job of heading down the buoy, so good I was afraid that I was going to get tied up in the rope as I passed.

I think I may have drafted for 50 yds or so since I was just following bubbles and did not even really look up. I know that I am getting slower because I am breathing pretty much every stroke and feel as though I am thrashing more than swimming, but I can see the end and am feeling good. One last disheartening factor - as I breathe to my left I see guys walking in the shallower water and they seem to be going faster than me! Well no walking for me I swim till my hand hits the ground and up and out I go, first leg of becoming a triathlete is complete!

Need to probably take some swim lessons. I do too much of just the up and back whi8le training and I think my endurance is where it should be for this early stage but technique may be a bit ragged!

I also think that I could have started more up front and went harder at the start. Having read so many RRs getting ready for this event I may have psyched myself out a bit about the whole swim aspect, when it is really not all that bad - I did not freak out or feel like I could not make it at any point so I think I can be more aggressive next time.

OK so my first transition -remember "I had a plan" My plan was to take my time so that I was ready for the bike and not feel like I was scrambling all over the place. Looking at my time it looks like I stopped for a sandwich!
I set up by the swim entrance and it was long TA. My thinking was that I do not wear bike shoes so I could either set up by the bike exit and run forever across this parking lot barefoot going ooh ouch ooh ouch the whole way or have my running shoes on and be able to run quickly with the bike in tow. So the plan was solid it just took me a week to get the socks and shoes on, tried to put my helmet on top of my swim cap and goggles DOH! I also put on my Garmin 305 at this point which I had my daughter start at the sound of the horn then hand off to me as I headed out of the water (remember the HRM?)

So I "walked" (because I could not run) my bike to the end of the TA and off I went.

practice a little bit - this was bout what I thought would happen and none of the T1 times were all that good but I left an easy 2 minutes on the table and that can be easily corrected with a little bit of focus.

This was awesome! I started poorly, could not get my shoes into the clips and was bit tentative at the start. Once I got going I felt like I was flying. I passed a bunch of people in the first mile then set my sights on a fast moving Clyde in front of me. When I caught him he seemd to slow down and I yelled " lets do this big man" and we took off. We passed an army of people and I just stayed at his rear, slowing several times as not to be accused of drafting though a few times in mile 7 I just tucked underneath and let him pedal- who even knerw that6 is how that worked. It seemd with about a mile to go the "big man was wearing down so I took the lead and brought it home.

I know my time does not look good to the experienced racer but since this was the first time I had even tried to ride fast, I felt like I was Lance himself!

So because I was pouring it on early ( remember I was 42/83 so in perspective please) I tried to relax a little the last few miles because I knew my legs were going to be wobbly getting off.

I think that I had about 2 minutes less in me if I was not so tentative at the start and also got my feet in quicker.

With only one real ride and it was just a cruise on my $200 target road bike +$60 LBS getting it ready and lets not forget the $24 worth of tubes I bought - I did better than I expected.

This was a lot easier - shoes were already on and all I had to rack the bike which got all caught up in the guys next to me since he apparently expanded his area while I was gone. I had to shove his bike over to get mine in but all in all pretty easy.

I saw the time and thought arrrgh 2 seconds and it would have been under 2 minutes which was my goal.

Run with the bike to the rack. When I hopped off I was a little wobbly so I just walked it in and tried to catch my breath. Put the bike in and go - I was messing around with the rack and looking for water, shuld have just taken off.

Ok so the plan was to "crush" the run. Out of all my training I thought I would be able to be strong through this part to the finish, once again -- not so much.

I came out of the TA and took off at a pretty good pace, passing people in the first 300 or so yards. Then I get into the direct sun and WOW I was hot and my HR felt like it was through the roof. I tried to just tone it down a bit and figured walk now or walk later but your gonna have to catch your breath. I did a little 150 yd walk and took off again. I walked twice in the first mile, the second was at the water station and I dumped a cup on my head and I thought I could hear it sizzling? So after my third little walk break at the 1.5 mark I said that I have to finish strong, so I jogged it for a bit then it came! About a 1/4 or less from the finish you could hear the people and then see the end down a nice little hill. All the sudden I did not feel hot, I did not feel tired, I felt GREAT! There it was, THE FINISH LINE, so I stepped it up a bit and as I got close the announcer was chatting about the guy behind me wanting to pass and he should not just let me go, so he poured it on and the last 50 we sprinted to a dead heat across the line - are you kidding me, I DID IT! I FINISHED!

More Bricks I guess - I need to get a better sense of my legs coming off the bike so I will take some "hard" rides then run them out after to get used to the sensation - I felt ok about the run but know I left about a minute out there with the walks. It was under my goal of 20 minutes so I am good with it.

Walked around - ate a bunch of cookies and drank a bucket of really cold water. Checked the results and cheered some folks in.



Lack of experience and focused training. My training kind of stumbles along with my haphazard program. Should probably get to more structure and discipline going into the next. I have approx 2 mos till Peachtree City and I am gonna bring it!


I had the time of my life - The race was what I expected and pretty much everything went as advertised.

I worked for about 10 weeks to get ready, probably did too much reading and not enough training but either way it surpassed my expectations - The feeling heading to that finish line was a sense of accomplishment and reward that you don't feel that often. I cannot wait to leave it all on the field in the next one.