Peachtree SuperSprint Triathlon - Triathlon

This was originally supposed to be seeded by estimated swim time, which did not happen. My swim pace was way off my usual pace so that was annoying but I spent so much time going through and around the crowd there was nothing I could do. A lot of stop and sprint for me but overall it was a good swim. Looks like everybody's times were slow. We also started about 30-40 minutes late so other than knowing how the water temps were any benefit of a pre-race warmup had been negated at that point. My feet were frozen from standing on the cold ground for an hour so I was just glad to get in the water. The jump off the dock was fun, as was the swim exit as you swam out of the boat ramp, which was surrounded on each side by an extended dock filled with spectators. Very cool swim exit and a better lake to swim in than Peachtree Lake.

Wear cheap flip flops to keep my feet off the cold ground and then jam my way up towards the front of the line after realizing the time trial start wasn't going to happen. Other than that I can't control the pace of those in front of me so just do what I did and bob and weave through them.

This was a comedy of errors for me but I expected it to be slow. Given the cold air temp I decided I needed to have some layer of clothing on and gloves, as my hands get naturally cold anyway. Fiddled around with trying to put on a long sleeve pullover running shirt but could not get my hands through the first sleeve so I bailed on that and put on a short sleeve cycling jersey to provide some cover. At this point my hands were cold so putting on the gloves was like trying to jam my hands through peanut butter. Then I couldn't get my helmet buckled right so I added time there. Other than that it was awesome because I didn't forget anything like I did in my last race.

Should've known putting on the long sleeved cover would be tough with wet arms and that the running gloves would be tough as well. Next time in these temps just get the cycling jersey on and maybe use mittens instead of gloves for the bike.

This was not a fun course outside of a few stretches. Was thinking that given a shorter distance we'd be able to hammer it but there were so many turns and short stretches that pace suffered, which were down for everyone across the board. The fastest cyclist only averaged 17 mph - way down from what he is fully capable of. Thankfully I was not affected by the train. This was my first time on the bike outdoors since the end of September so I was a bit hesitant on the bike and didn't know what to expect but I felt good overall.

Nothing. The course is the course. Try to get outdoors for at least one training ride.

and the comedy of errors in transition continued. Feet ended up going completely numb from the cold while on the bike so I had a hard time getting my shoes on. Then almost ran out of transition with my helmet on so I had to turn back right before I exited transition. Other than that it wasn't bad.

Maybe just wear my helmet on the short run or carry it like a football. Lost at least 10-15 seconds going back to take it off and put it in my spot.

Feet were completely numb the entire run and my overall body was a little cool. Had a difficult time judging how I was really feeling so just had to trust my heart rate on my running watch. Was really focused on my pacing but held back a little too much given I couldn't feel my feet, which by the way is a really weird feeling while running. The run was too short to allow my feet to warm back up after the bike but I think I did well all things considered.

Proud of the way I tackled the hill after keeping in mind an effort chart on tackling hills I just read on Triathlete.com. I should've had better course awareness and pushed it harder all the way home after the hill and not have been so conservative on pacing.

All things considered I'm pleased with my splits but those transitions were a disaster. To spend 4 minutes in transition on a super sprint is just terrible but I knew before the race I would spend little extra time in T1 to put on some cover for the bike.


This race was hit with a lot of things out of its control, primarily a relatively last minute location change and overall they did a very good job handling it, which is a credit to the experience of everyone putting this event together. The location change, late start due to fog, and unexpected train delay would have set most races out of control into being a total disaster.

However, logistically there is a lot of room for improvement. The super sprint racers had to wait over an hour before we could get our bikes out of transition. I understand that you don't want people taking out their bikes and being in the way while the Olympic racers are coming into and out of T2 but maybe a solution can be figured out for the future so people aren't stuck waiting around but even then we probably couldn't have left because the parking was long the first stretch on the bike and run route. The run course wasn't marked for runners to run in the middle of the road, nor did I hear a volunteer yell to stay in the middle so the Olympic cyclists could get through on the right (I was running on the far right and got yelled at by one cyclist). There appeared to be a lot of confusion for many on the run course.

Lastly, the awards were seriously delayed. I understand that part of this was because of the train issue but they posted the results around 9:30, except they were not sorted by age group, which according to the volunteers at the awards area is what was needed to begin the awards. A lot of people were asking when the awards would start and we were either given a "I don't know", "hopefully soon", or "as soon as we get the list by age group." My race ended around 8:45 and after waiting for 2 hours I had to make the call to go ahead and leave. At this point I had been at the race site for almost 5 hours for a race that took me 45 minutes. A big reason why I did the sprint was because I had time constraints so this really set my balance of time out of whack. I completely understand there were many things the race couldn't control but the one thing you can always control is communication and unfortunately in this case they get a subpar grade here. You just can't expect people to sit around for hours and not communicate with them on an expected time when the awards will start or what is causing the issue. After so many people kept asking about it they should've made an announcement. If you make an announcement then people will understand or can plan if they want to stay or not.

To the credit of the race they will now be mailing out the awards, free of charge, to those who didn't hang around any longer where previously it was a $10 fee.

Aside from the lengthy delay on awards and lack of communication, this was still a great race, even in less than ideal conditions. This site has a lot of potential for a future race, especially if they can get logistics worked out and a better bike course for the super sprint. Swag had the new location and the shirt is awesome. Great fit which is tough to find for me at some events.

This was my first AG win so I'm proud of that, especially with the disastrous transitions and me being a total baby with the cold weather.