Tri-Peachtree City Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

This was a disaster for me. I was turning left all the way out, although I was swimming well I kept needing course corrections and lost control of my pace in the process. After making the turn, I ran out of air and seemed to have trouble staying on top of the water, I also had to swim around a bouy after going off course, this time to the right.

Swim straight. This is something I really need to practice, apparently.I felt good about my swimming going in but I really need to work on open water swimming more.

I was winded and dispirited after the swim, so I took longer than planned to collect myself. It worked because by the time I started pedaling, I was ready to go.

Swim better.

I have trained on this course and for the first 11 miles I was doing a personal best pace of 19.44 mph. I would have been very pleased about that, except that at the time I checked my average speed I was standing on the side of the road with a broken bike. At first I thought my chain had come off, but discovered that the part of the frame to which the rear derailleur should be attached had broken. I also didn't get my foot out of the clip soon enough because I was trying to figure out what was wrong with the bike, and I took a rolling spill down a little hill on the side of the road. Nothing injured but my pride. I had mentally quit the race and started walking my bike in when I thought that as long as I was walking back anyway I might as well finish the race. So I jog/coasted the last mile.

The good news is, the decision whether to buy a new bike has been made for me. I was pleased with my progress on the bike.

I had placed my ID inside my running shoe and got halfway out of the transition area before I realized something was not right and I stupidly went back to my station instead of just handing it to my adoring fans waiting outside the transition area. Time was slow, but at this point I was just earning the T-shirt.

Move quicker

I coasted through the run and even made a pit stop at the porta-potty 100 yards from the start. I regret that because I might have made my original goal of 1:30 if I had kept running and pushed just a little harder, even with the bike trouble. Unfortunately, I forgot to start my watch at the beginning of the swim and thought I was taking much longer than I actually was.

Try harder.

Poor swim navigation, bike trouble and resulting bad attitude.


I have mixed feelings about this race. I beat my previous best, my first and only previous triathlon in May, by 33 minutes. Despite equipment failure, I came close to my stated goal of 1:30. But mentally I knew I could do this race much faster and I am disappointed in my swim and in my run effort.