Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

We were on 3 second intervals. I seemed to find my own spot quickly. Went a little to left to get out of line of swimmers. Straight line made it easy to follow. Just swam and swam. Actually thought about form this time. But this was my first Oly length and only 2nd OW swim so frankly didn't sprint at all. Just kept going. About 1/2way I was like "man I can't do this"...but quickly changed thoughts and just plugged away. I need to site better. I just breast-stroke a few beats for a break and site. Just when I was cruising along I heard lots of noise and looked up..BAM there was the dock. They yell to you to reach up, One guy reached for me to pull me out and then another came over and they got me so high...man it was cool...like a cheerleading stunt..:) I think I was smaller than they were expecting. Part of the swim time was the flight of stairs to the Transition of which I walked. I am sorry, I am a big clutz, didn't chance running it and I needed to catch my breath.

Hey my swim time great for me!!
but I could push myself a little hard in the 2nd half now that I know I can do that. I definitely got out thinking...man I could have done more. But no worries. Now I know. I can swim that far in OW! :) My theme for the day: this was my first Oly and it was HOT. I just wanted to get thru it all and love it enough to come back for more.

Ok I didn't even try to go fast in transition folks. First it was big. :) And I walked. Yup and proud of it!! I think I spent more time walking to my spot and out then at my spot. Got to my spot after the little group near me and left before them. So I was just plain old lazy :)

ok ok, ..run? :)

When I got out of transition, I didn't even want to swing my leg on the bike. It took a bit of adjusting before I clipped in new shoes..just need to get used to I guess...but then I was off. I realized about 3 miles into the bike that I was paying the price for not enough food on Saturday and Sunday morning. Must find a way to make me eat. I started eating cliff blocks and finally by mile 10 I had some energy again. I would say I pushed myself moderately. I was afraid to go all out b/c I wanted something left for the run and just didn't know what I would have. They had the 40 year old group get in water after my age group (how they did the start age/swim time)...and all those freakin good bikers on tris just flew past me. I knew it would happen so didn't let it bother me. Oh and I did see Trigods blaze (yes BLAZE) past me as I was doing the first loop and he was finishing up the 2nd. Then all the other HEAT (my tri club) Ironmen guys blazed past me but it was great seeing them this time..!!! How much better to see them ON the bike course and not freakin done chillin out when I am coming in for T2.

I did improve my bike speed (i know you wouldn't know but I did by a mile per hour!) I just need more time on the bike and more time in bigger gears. I realize I have a high cadence on the easier gears and try to go up but I get lazy and think: this gear is too hard/it will make my thighs too big...bad for races...I am spinning and going nowhere :) So I think it is just comfort with the bike and biking efficiently with the right gears. I did feel like my legs were moving good and my feet felt great in my shoes...no numbness!! And yeah I could have pushed it harder I am sure...but again. This was my 'feel it out day'

Again I walked in with my bike. Got in my shoes. Put on more sunscreen on my face cuz it was hurting. And took off.

Get enough endurance so I can run in transition. Only thing slowing me down :)

um yeah. Well this would be where I gave up trying to reach my time. There were so many stairs and hills the first mile and I already decided to walk most of it..that it was hard getting running going again. Chris (Trigods) said I looked good when we passed but he forgets I was on a downhill in the shade at the time :). I passed all the HEAT (my tri club) guys and Lane and it was great to see people. It was just too damn hot for me. I am a wuss runner. I like running in 65-75 degrees...not sunny and 98. I took like 3 cups of water and 1 gatorade at every stop. I let one guy hose me but he freakin drenched me...shoes squeaking for 2 miles..thank goodness not marathon! I think I walked a lot from mile 2-4 but then decided I wanted to be done and just starting trotting (can't really call it running). Just when I was ready to bail again I found some chick that went in the water right before, she was my age and we went back and forth on the bike...and all of a sudden there she was!!...ahh....reason to push...and so I did...I ran and ran and ran right passed her and ran the whole last mile strong until I hit the finish. Ahhhhh it felt so good!!!!! All the boys were there to cheer me on.

Actually run?
Do more bricks but do more daytime runs in the heat to get used to it. I was really worried about over-heating as I run early in the morning usually. Find a sooner motivation than some chick at the end...clearly I had more to give since I ran so well in the end.

Loved the ice rag on my neck! Had another water then a couple beers..oh yeah baby!! At this point, Chris's son Parker decided he wanted to put ice down my pants, in my beer can, down my shirt. So I spent the next half hour chasing him, spinning him around in the air (uh not recommended after beer) and just being goofy. That was when Lane said I clearly didn't work hard enough on the race if I had that much energy to play:). But it was fun and i miss my nieces and nephews and we think Parker liked playing with someone his own height (uh yeah, he's like 6).

And then we waited for Chris (cbost) to come in then had Lane's birthday cake, went to the awards for a bit, got a freebie gift and then we called it a day.


Overall I need to eat more. I just have no fuel too quickly and I can tell that is what it is more than my muscles being tired. So eat better. Uh the 1 hour time change sucked. Not enough sleep. And just inexperience.

But rather than mope about the heat and my walking during the run as I realized my goal time was slipping, I decided to reflect on where I have come. Six months ago I got on BT to start cross training and MAYBE consider a sprint tri at best. (I thought you people were nuts for doing this IRONMAN stuff :)) It took me until March before I really got in the pool and I couldn't even swim 25 yards without stopping to rest and catch my breath. And my brand new bike sat un-used for 3 months because I was too scared to get on it. Yup. Huge childhood fear of the bike. By beginning of May I realize I need to actually get off the bike at the gym and get on my real bike since I signed up for a mini sprint for my birthday at the end of May. And so here I was just 2 1/2 months later with a couple sprint tri's under my belt and I was finishing an Olympic length triathlon...and today marked only my 3rd OW swim. I came under my times for the swim and bike. I didn't fall on the bike (yeah! no blood this time!) and I smiled to the finish and had a blast at the end and gosh it has only been like 8 hrs since finishing the race and I can't wait to train more to learn more and improve. These races are just fun. I hope though that as I get better I keep having fun, keep improving but look forward and not complain about the stuff I cant undo but be proud of what I have done and keep going.

And folks I hoped for 3:30 and that is exactly what I did...who the heck knew??? (I forgot to turn on my watch)


Team Magic again. Great race. Great post race food but I was too lazy to get in line. It is a fun course. It is not easy. The stairs can get you. The heat can get you. Butit is a pretty town...well done and I am going back next year to kick it out!