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 Swim
Comments: The send offs were 3 to 5 seconds. It was an odd start, as they started your chip while you were standing by the pool, and then you jumped in. No diving allowed, so you jumped in and did your best to kick off the wall. Per Steph I belly flopped in, since I was trying to drop down, and kick off the wall. It did not work out for me so well. I took a big stroke and got into swim position quickly, and then I started to hammer away. I caught the guy infront of me about half way down the first lane. I tapped his feet twice and he did not move, so I aggressively moved to pass. We hit the wall at the same time, and I turn and kicked off taking a path that would put me front of him after the turn. From there I passed the next guy which cut the last guy off my feet as I crossed the lane. Yes, I was swimming very aggressive the first 100 meters. I passed several, several people in the first 100 meters, as everyone over estimated their swim time and it created a bottleneck. After the first 100 meters the lanes quickly opened up. I found myself in "no man's land" for the rest of the swim. The swim time includes getting out of the pool, and then running out of the complex to transition. Hence, the longer than normal swim split. What would you do differently?: Not much, but perhaps push the last 100 meters as I had set it in cruise contol when I hit no-man's land.  Transition 1
Comments: T1 was solid. One of my shoes hand been moved a bit, so as I dropped my goggles/cap I replaced my shoe next to the other one. I cost me a second, but I like my stuff in order. Glasses in mouth, helment on, glasses on, grabbed bike and headed for the mount line. What would you do differently?: Stupid people don't move my stuff.  Bike
Comments: Crossed the mount line, and mounted. I give the crank a quick few spins, and then quickly got my feet into the shoes. I knew the first mile was going to be uphill, but I did not realize how big the first hill was. WOW, that was actually a nice climb. I took it fully seated, and passed three or four people during it. At the top it flatten out, and I started to hammer. Quickly I was up to 27/28 mph, and then Aaron Gray came up beside me. The man can bike. He is one of those people that I could not drop. We played leap frog the rest of the bike. Up and down, up and down, the course changed just enough that you really could not find a good rhythm. There were two screaming downhills where I topped 40+ mph, but the rest seemed like climbing. I thanked all the volunteers and police as I passed. They did a great job of controlling the traffic while we were on the course. I reeled in and passed the rest of the people on the bike except Zion Grey (Aaron's son) and the 1st OA guy. The last hill was the second of the screamers and I got down in super aero and changed gears to climb back into the complex. Climbed that hill out of the saddle, and zoomed back to T2. As I unstrapped my feet I could hear Aaron doing the same behind me, and one of his shoes' heel hit the ground and drag. I could hear his footsteps. As I approached the dismount line I move to a side-stand and wheeled around the corner to the line. Dismounted and headed to the rack. What would you do differently?: Hammer more. Transition 2
Comments: Perfect dismount, and headed to the rack. Racked bike, glasses off, helmet off, glasses back on, and then started to fight with my stupid shoe. I had issue getting the first one on, and about fell over again. Once I got it on, I shoved my second shoe on, grabbed my race belt and out the door. What would you do differently?: Get my first shoe on faster. It had to cost me at least 3-4 extra seconds.  Run
Comments: Aaron and I came out of T2 together, and we were stride for stride. Well, that is until some guy looked at us and said "this is a race guys, not a stroll through the park". After he said that I dropped it into gear. I quickly started pulling away from Aaron. I worked into rhythm and away I went. There were numerous out & back spots where you could guage the distance between you and the guy infront/behind. Behind me was of no concern, and I was only putting distance between me and the next guy, but I was watching me reel in Zion. I knew he had a 2:00+ minute head start because of the TT swim start, but I still wanted to pass. I definitely had extra gears I could have used but I was reeling him in at a good pace. I had him within 50 feet when we came to the finish, so I dropped it another gear to close. I was on his heels within seconds, but decided no need to blow out the legs to complete the final pass as I already knew I had him beat. Plus, this was just a warm up for the Turtle Crawl Oly, so I decided to save it until then. We crossed the line together. What would you do differently?: 2nd fastest run of the day. Only beaten by the 1st place guy, but I definitely could have gone faster. Post race
Warm down: I stood at the finish line cheering the other racers in. Yes, this is the best part of the day, IMO. I talked to Brain, Calvin, and Jim Rainey (who did great for a 63 year old, 19th OA). After a while I did a cool down run to the car to get Steph a chair. About 1.5 miles. What limited your ability to perform faster: I should have pushed harder. I had plently left in the tank at the end. Event comments: Great race, and for a great cause. It was great to meet more BT'ers and everyone had a great day! This is my first time breaking into an OA position in a triathlon, but they only awarded 1st place OA, clydes, Athena, AG, so I setted for an 1st AG podium, but the silver lining is that I know I took 2nd OA. Last updated: 2010-04-26 12:00 AM
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United States
Georgia MultiSports
80F / 27C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 2/150
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 1/6
Alarm went off at 4:15 AM, up and showered/dressed. I drank a boost while getting dressed, but nothing more. Drove over to the race site, got checked in, and then to transition to get set up. Afterwards, I headed over to get body marked.
I asked a technical USAT rulebook question (which is open to interpretation by the RD) about when you could unfasten the helmet strap (the USAT rulebook states you have to have the strap fastened before mounting the bike, and while on the bike but it does not state if you can unfasten it after dismounting and on your way to the rack), but the poor girl took it was when you should have your helmet on. I decided to keep it fastened until I had racked my bike to prevent any questions of DQ. Yes, I am "that guy" with the rule book.
Other than that, I got set up and then talked with Steph until the pre-race meeting at 6:45 AM.
None, I have learned that I am also "that guy".
The pre-race meeting started, and I got to talking to the people around me. I recognized the guy sitting infront of me, I believe he and I have raced a 5K or 10K before, so we got to talking. He lives in Athens, and I asked if he knew Phatknot (Harvey). Low and behold, he did. I told him Phat would have raced, but he was scared. J/K Phat, nothing but love for ya! ;)
The RD lined everyone up in order, and we got set. The RD has his game face on because Jim Railey was there racing, so I am sure he was watching the organization skills. They played the National Anthem (which I was spinning around like a top looking for the flag, it was right above me), and we were ready to rock.
I met Calvin (triton63) & Brian (MultisportMinistries) while standing in line. Calvin told me to start infront of him, and since the race was chipped it really did not mater so I agreed. I think he just wanted to draft off me :)