Athens YMCA Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I was seeded #171 on a swim estimate of 5:30. Despite lots of talk about people having submitted inaccurate seeding times, there really wasn't much bunching in the pool before I started. I heard that it got a lot worse shortly after my start, though.
As expected, I started a little fast and passed the guy (Austin) in front of me. However, he passed me back about 2/3 of the way through. Then we stayed even until the end and got out at the same time.

Was focusing on balance, rotation, and good breathing (full exhale; rotate, don't lift head.) Need to get those down pat so I can focues more on consistent catch and pull.

One of my poorer T1 times. Was out door and past timing mat before I even took off goggle and swim cap. No harm, but must have looked a little funny.
Problems with shoes b/c of gravel parking lot. Wiped feet on exposed towel, but couldn't get dirt off, so I had to grab a water bottle and squirt feet. Got socks and shoes on, but then felt pebble in left shoe so had to take off and dump out pebble.
Running through transition with bike was good, and had a great start - jumping on moving bike and feet went right into cleats.

Open top of the transition water bottle so it is ready if I need it.

Did a good job staying aero the entire course. The chip-seal was rough, and my hands started going numb after a while.
The hills didn't affect me as much as I was afraid they might after scouting the course the night before. They were rolling, so my speed dropped a bit and I dropped to lower gears, but not steep enough that I had to come out of my aero bars. I pushed pretty solidly the entire course, passing a number of people, and I didn't get passed. That's not as surprising with the individual swim start, but still a good feeling.
It won't update the fields, so rankings are:
age group: 9 / 51
overall: 45 / 440

Not much. I need to continue hill workouts for power, especially w/ Cactus Challenge in Austin coming up next. Also need to be careful of my pacing, especially for Olympic races. This pace would probably be too hard for that distance.

Excellent dismount and speed to rack. First one back to my rack, and when I threw bike on rack, the entire rack shifted, so I had to pull the rack back into place. The 4th best T2 time overall!

I need to consider slowing down in T2 so that I have a better run. (lower starting HR)

I had a rough start, possibly because of the very fast T2. I didn't feel strong on the starting uphill, and was fighting off a cramp in my ribs. (fortunately, I didn't end up walking). The person that left T2 in front of me was running at almost an identical speed, although I managed to catch him around the 1 mile point and ran the rest of the race with him. We picked up the pace slightly after the turnaround, and sprinted the final downhill back in the park.

Slow down in T2. I think I could have held a slightly faster pace, but I am more consistent when I'm running with someone else.

Congratulated the guy I paced with most of the run. Downed a bottle of water and an orange slice. They even had baked potatos and condiments, but I skipped them. Chatted with various folks for a bit, including one of the other Team Javelin guys at the race. We cheered for the third guy as he left T1. (yes, there were still swimmers starting at this point.)
I decided to do a second lap of the run course for extra exercise, but kept a slower pace (28 min) and shouted lots of encouragement to everyone on the way.
Since it was a YMCA facility, we had access to the locker rooms, which meant a nice shower and clean clothes before starting the drive home.


This was supposed to be a 'C' race, so I didn't taper leading up to it, although the preceding week was the recovery week on my scheule and Friday has been rest day.
Swim speed is a weakness for me, but I really lose time on the run. I need so more bricks to east that bike-to-run transition, and then work on run speed and pacing.



Very well organized, lots of volunteers. Baked potatoes were a unique post-race option. Would be wonderful if highways had not be chip sealed, but you can't fault the race directors too much for that.