Heart O' Dixie Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

There were no swim caps given at registration which was a surprise. Usually I have one or two in my bag just in case, but of course this was the one race that I forgot them. So the swim was done without a cap. Luckily, I had just cut my hair really short so it wasn't as much of a problem as I thought it would be.

We lined up according to our order of registration and it was a time trial start so every 5 seconds a racer would hit the water. This was a first for me. I'm used to mass chaos at the start of races where the first 200m is more surviving than racing, so the start here was nice. I was able to immediately settle into a smooth, comfortable pace, virtually alone. I don't think I so much as ever even touched another racer. It's a clockwise swim which also catered to me because I tend to breathe more to the right. The lake is fairly small and enclosed so very little if any chop. It's the closest thing to a pool swim I've done in the open water. Very nice, and my swim time reflected it. By far the fastest 1/2 mile I've done in my short triathlon career.

Swim exit was well-marked and carpeted, and was right at T1 so no extra running.

The only problem I encountered was foggy goggles, making visibility very difficult. I almost chunked them at one point but was afraid of losing a contact lens. Without this I would say it was a perfect swim.

A warm up would've been nice but didn't hurt not having it (unless that somehow contributed to goggle-fog). Same goes for swim cap. Need to figure out how to avoid the goggle issues.

The point-to-point, multiple transition areas come into play here. The finish line is 35 miles away and we didn't want to drive back after the race to retrieve goggles and towels. So we had our "team manager" there with us at the T1 area. We packed our stuff into a small bag and tossed it to him as we exited. Cost us a little time but so what, at least we didn't have to return after the race.

Nothing. Glad we scoped out T1 the day before. It was nice having support there to take our stuff back to the finish.

Still learning the tri-bike so my time wasn't thrilling. Lots of ups and downs but nothing too difficult other than the fact that tri-bikes don't climb like road bikes, which is all part of the learning process. It was nice to see many of the locals out in their lawn chairs watching the race. The headwind hit around mile 15 and it was steady with a few hard gusts. However, the entire race was under cloud-cover and I'll take a headwind any day if it means the sun stays hidden on a Mississippi July day, but I was still glad to have the aero-bars. Took two honey stingers and one full gatorade bottle on the course and it seemed to be enough. There were two aid stations along the way but I didn't stop.

No major mistakes here. I need to get more familiar with my bike, particular climbing and gear-changing.

Very well coordinated. The moment I dismounted the volunteers were calling my bib number to each other and I was guided directly to my transition spot. Keep in mind, we handed over our T2 bag at the start and they were transported and placed at our T2 position so we had no idea where our stuff was and had no familiarity with T2. Kudos to the race director for coordinating it. No hiccups at all.

Was thinking ahead too much. Wasn't ready for the surprising, seemingly insignificant little climb up to T2 and it slowed me a little. Need to stay concentrated right up to the line.

Mother nature was merciful with constant cloud cover and temps in mid 80s. Humidity was high and it was still a hot run but nothing like it could have been had the sun been beating on me. Started with a long, gradual but steady climb for 1.5 solid miles without flattening out. This didn't look like much from the car but is most definitely uphill. Doing this right after the bike really took its toll and was hurting many fellow competitors. After that it was big rollers, constant up and down until we reached the fairgrounds. I managed to distract myself by clocking each mile and trying to improve my time on each. By the time I turned into the fairgrounds I was under an 8 min/mile pace. Rounding the track was great, lots of crowd support. And the PA announcer did a good job of calling out each racer as they finished.

Not much, but I can see how problematic the run could be for someone who burned themselves out on the bike course. The uphills are tough, and the downhills can be just as bad on tired quads. Glad to have my race watch.

Pizza and fruit at the finish. Then we sipped on a few cold ones while reflecting on the race from the cabin porch.


Just not at peak performance on the bike. This may be lack of training or no familiarity with the bike. Gotta find a way to max my power output.


Loved the race. Very well organized. They've been doing it for a long time and it shows. Transition areas couldn't have been smoother. Great swim, smooth and comfortable and very fast. Faster than average bike course but has enough hills to hurt you on the run if you're not careful; and yes you need to save something for the run because it is brutal. Big hills and thick, humid air. We got lucky with the weather this year but typically it will be well into the 90s with a blazing sun riding on your back. If you overdo it on the bike you will suffer here.

Awesome finish on the track. Volunteers were great, fan support was great. Loved every minute of it and can't wait to do it again.

Three tips: 1) register early because the race starts according to registration, first come first serve. And in the Mississippi heat you want to start as early as possible; 2) bring a swim cap if you need one b/c they don't provide them with your packet; 3) have someone go to the start with you, toss him/her your stuff as you exit T1. Saved us a 30 minute trip back to the start.