Tri the Parks - Richard B. Russell State Park - TriathlonOlympic

I don't really care for mass starts. They let off all men 39 and under first. Bodies all over the place. Couldn't find any space for several hundred yards. Didn't get hit badly but it was just frustrating trying to get around people. Never felt like I got in a good rythm.

Also didn't feel like I kept a good line. At one point it was difficult due to the rising sun to see where the bouyies were at.

Overall, I feel I've done better. But, I'm still new to the sport (this was my 5th tri overall) and I am seeing progress. Plus, I'm getting much more comfortable in the water with each race.

Find open space sooner.

Felt OK about my time. It's getting better with each race. Where I'm finishing overall in my age group, I need to improve. The three age grouper that finished ahead of me had much quicker times.

Practice transitions outside of events. Hard to get better at something when you don't practice it.

I spent too much time wiping off my feet. Saw another guy who used the end of his towel to wipe his feet, as opposed to me who used a hand towel to clean them off. I'm going to give his approach a try next time.

My last couple races I felt I could have pushed harder on the bike. I guess I was saving up for the run. For this one, I decided I was going to push it more and see what I could do. While I saw improvement, there's still plenty of opportunity to get better. Passed a few people but still got passed by a good number of people.

At one point I got passed by the female leader. I had a 6 minute head start on her due to the swim waves. Anyway, as she passed me, I noticed how efficient and smooth she looked on the bike. She didn't appear to be exerting much effort but she was hauling. It made me realize that I'm just not fluid on the bike yet. I don't have a good cadence, I don't shift well, etc. I'm basically getting by on sheer power / grit / ignorance.

Practice more. Compared to the time I spend running, I don't put in nearly enough time on the bike. I need to work on cadence and smooth gear shifting.

Overall I was happy with this time. Transition area was pretty empty when I came in due to people still being on the bike. This helped. Did a good job getting on shoes, putting on race belt while running, getting out of transition. It would be nice to be 5 to 10 seconds quicker.

Not much. Try to find somewhere to squeeze 5 to 10 seconds off the time.

The heat was a challenge. Didn't help that there wasn't much shade on the course. I think they might have measured the course wrong. I've run several 10K's under 40 minutes and in each of these I felt I was really pushing. I didn't feel I was pushing so much on this one.

About 3/4 of a mile into the run, a guy passed me who was really moving. Saw the age on his leg - 41. Decided I needed to try to stay with this guy. I was never able to catch him, but I kept him in my sights. He did a great job and I know he definitely pushed me to a faster time. Other than getting passed by him, I was passed by only one other person. Unfortunately, that was the leader, who was completing his 2 lap while I was completing my first. He was really hauling.

Push it a little more. I have the running background and I've got the endurance.

Walked around a little. At a bagel. Drank some water. Tried some sport drink that was about the most disgusting thing I've ever tried (name with held so as not to offend).


Bad swim stroke / efficiency. If I can improve on the swim I stand a good chance of placing in my age group in the future. I've decided to give TI a try.


A great race. I've been impressed with the Tri the Parks series. They run an efficient, no-frills event. Parks are beautiful and I get to see areas of the state that I would have never seen otherwise. Getting to Elberton is tough and this may prevent me from doing this again next year. But overall I really enjoyed it.