Athens YMCA Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

The swim felt too easy. One guy passed me toward the beginning of the 2nd lap. I caught up to the next person before the end of the same lap. I passed probably 5 people total at the turn arounds. The last lap got bottle-necked and I actually had to tread water before I decided to push up to the edge and get out of the pool. Frustrated by my not being able to focus on my pre-race training methods. I held my head out of the water the majority of the time and actually breated in a ton of water. I was not expecting the pool to be so choppy. I could not believe my swim times when I saw them. I thought for sure that I would have swam at least a 7:30 or more. This was my PB in the water. I guess there was a good draft or current in the lanes that dragged me along. Very Suprised indeed.

Relax. Keep my head down and pass more in the lanes instead of only at the turn arounds. I will have a better idea of my times to register next time.

I intentionally took it easy here. I realized that it was unecessary to put on riding gloves. I do not have tri short yet and had to put my XC short on over my speedo. I also did not need my socks which I wore for comfort. There was a young man in front of me leaving the bike rack that fell right smack dab in front of me and I had to stop, back up and go around to avoid a collision. It kind of freaked me out a little.

Ditch all the items that slowed me down. I know more for next time.

Felt great on the bike. The hills were bigger than expected and I didn't not take in enough water while on the bike. I passed a lot of people on this portion. Got passed as well.

nothing. very pleased so far.

Things went smooth. Too much stuff to take off to ready for the run.
Ran out of the rack area towards the bike exit instead of the run exit. Got yelled at and turned around. Finally made it to the correct exit and realized my legs were not there.

Know where the heck I am going.

WOW, I can't feel my legs. They started working after the first half mile or so. Could not settle into a good comfortable pace. Developed a severe cramp in my left quad about the 2 mile mark and realized I had not had water since before the race. I quickly found the nearest water station and attepted to grab and drink. This proved very difficult. It looks so easy on TV. I had to stop to drink. Continued on the run and had to stop and stretch/rub my leg 3 times to realize the cramp is not going away. I decided to run as best I could for the last 1/4 mile. The cramp loosened up as I crossed the little bridge an sprinted across the finish. Felt like I bombed the run. I am capable of 8 minutes faster but appearantly this was the best I had. Rather disappointed but I learned I need to drink on the bike!

Drink on the bike. Do more brick training! train longer runs.

Grabbed some oranges and bananas and found my family. My 2 and 5 year old daughters wanted to ask me a ton of questions and I realized my vision was goofy. I ate the fruit and walked around for about 5 minutes. Realized what BONKING really feels like.


Not enough fluid intake, no sleep night before, no breakfast, and too much anxiety.


I now know what to expect. This was my first triathlon. I will definetly race another one or two before the end of July. I feel like to train a little longer before my next attempt. Overall, I had fun and learned some good lessons.