Peachtree International Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I got to joke around with coldfire and his posse. I started the race with Biggsmoothie. I ran into the water and got a strong start. I sighted fine on the down leg, acceptable on the cross leg, then messed up the up leg. It bowed inwards and I took a straight line. As a result I went a little wide. I think this cost me on time. However, I did catch some nice drafts on this swim unlike WPL.

The swim was long. Everyone indicated this at the end. I am guessing by 4 minutes for me. However, WPL was short by a few minutes, so this is how it goes as it seems to be hard for the RD to measure a swim. It is what it is...

sight better and I really need to swim more. I have been phoning it in this year and I think it caught up to me on this race.

I was the fastest in AG, but everyone wore their wet suite. Frankly, I do not get the wet suite thing when the water is the perfect swim temp. People lose as much time as they gain. Does it really help that much on the swim?

T1 has become very spartan for me. Off with the speed suite and on with the helmet, run with the bike. Simple and fast.

Nothing.

I was a little surprised on the time. It really did not "feel" like a good ride. My speedometer was not working and I only had my watch, so I never knew how fast I was going. There were a few uphill sections that were way too slow.

In the early part of the race I yo-yo'ed with two people while I was warming up, then left them. I passed a ton of people and only got passed by a few. Around mile 17, I passed a guy and he stayed with me. We pushed each other until mile 21. As we come over a rise, I saw a rider down the road. As I past my yo-yo partner, I said "let's get that guy"...he smiled and said "let's do it". I down shifted and I chase was on. We got him at the mile 23 sign. He knew we were chasing him because he was shaking his head as we went by. It was a great way to make sure we finished the bike off right.

I need more work on the bike. I felt like I could go faster with more work. I have not put in the miles and have been light on Dynamo interval work outs due to work. However, I am not going to complain about 21+ average as it was right there with the top 10 in my age group. Nice to know there is upside, but know I was in the hunt.

Terrible bike dismount...not sure what I was thinking. I had the feet out and ready to jump off. For some reason, I slowed to a stop and got off. WTF???? Any way, I ran with my bike and went past my rack and had to back track. Having Styx blasting "too much time on my hands..." was not the right motivation music in T2! I went through the change fast, but sat down again to put the shoes on. This seems like a habit. As I was running out of T2, I looked at my watch and knew there was no way for a 2:30. So, mentally I adjusted to "just make sure your ass is across the line in less than 2:40!"


This would have been under a minute if I would have hit the rack right. Otherwise, it was a good transition. Time wise this was about average compared to others which is not good. My transitions are normally the fastest in my AG.

Once again, I ran out of T2 feeling good. I started to break down the run course to decide where I was going to push it. Then I came to the 1 mile marker...oh this seems to be my spot. The hamy grabbed on me out of no where. I did not stop running, but I slowed down to allow it to settle down. It let go and I was able to pick up the pace again. Suddenly, I hear this guy yelling behind me...wait is Phat racing today? I turned to see Coldfire running up on me. I had to laugh. At the 3 mile mark, I started to get tired mentally. The positive talk was silent, but there was no negative talk. I had to do something to get back engaged, so I started to do math. Time math that is...I looked at my watch and started to figure out how much time I had and what pace I needed to get under 2:40. It worked. At mile 4, I said to myself we are going to do this and picked it up big time. I ran strong (for me) to the line. I was in the hurt locker for that last 2 miles. When I finished, the tank was absolutely empty.

This run was faster than WPL, so I am on the right track. I do not have another OLY scheduled until Tug, so I will spend the summer racking up miles and adding some LT pacing work to encourage a better race pace.

Worth noting that I got off the bike in 5th in my AG! I dropped 9 places on the run. When I get the run thing under control, I will move up on the group. Lots of motivation on the table.

I finished and was wasted. I was barely walking when Cody came up to me. We have gone back and forth on the BT for a few years but never met. He introduced himself and the only thing I could get out was "give me a second, I need to go lay down". Unfortunately, I could not find him again. Met up with Coldfire and his posse. Talked with lots of other people.


I need to make sure I measure my performance against my goals for the year and not get down on things. I wanted to break 2:40 as many times as possible. Mission accomplished. It is even more important to note that my weapon, the swim, was the worse leg time wise due to the course being long. Despite this, I still managed to make my goal. Yes, I wanted to hit 2:30, but I should not get ahead of myself and discount the accomplishment. Also, this was a 3 minute PR on the course.

I need to get bike volume to 350 per month consistently, finally hit the gym to strengthen the hamstrings, keep the run volume up and mix in some harder pacing work, and swim just a little more.


This race is great until you finish. Like most races, the post race food was off. I can't eat pizza after a race at 10 AM. Who the heck drinks coffee? So, the only option was oranges and nanas. Oh well.

This finish line was great as it was crowded with people and everyone was cheering. The bleacher seat as a great addition.

I love this race and will do it every year that I can...