Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I thought of all the events this would be the one I would breeze through. Didn't happen. My navigational skills are worse than ever, and they were never good. I was out in the middle of the river when a kayak jockey suggested I move a little closer to the buoys, which seemed a hundred yards away. I headed back in and spotted Abear2 cruising along and decided to follow her in. Banged my shin on the dock, but I was probably a bigger fish than the volunteers had bargained for.

Train, do more OWS for navigation practice. I really should have stayed with the other swimmers, but I think the promise of flowing downstream out in the current lured me out. There was no current to be found.

I wasn't rushing.

Rush.

Abear2 exited the transition area ahead of me. I kept her in sight on the surface streets then caught her on the highway. I knew she hadn't been feeling well and she looked a little wobbly, so I stayed with her. It was fun, like a training ride. I didn't exert myself much and got off the bike thinking I was in good condition for the run. hahahahahahahaha!

Not much. The view was great from my seat. ;)

Didn't rush, working on consistency in transition.

Rush.

I'm thinking that my last training run was sometime in September. I thought that would get me through, but I was wrong. Abear2 returned the favor and stuck with me, but I struggled horribly. Uphill, near the end, I had to slow from walk to shuffle to keep from losing my Powerade. We did manage a little kick to the finish, but my son had backtracked and caught us walking, so we didn't fool anyone.

Train.

Stood in the unbearably hot sun for a few minutes, then hung out in the food tent for a while.


Excess baggage, lack of training, lack of talent, and many other reasons.


I have extended the "bulking up" stage of my training a little longer than I intended, so this race was going to kick off my serious training. My plan was to keep it at IM pace, which I assumed would mean taking it easy, but I couldn't keep the pace. The good news, maybe great news, is that the long layoff seems to have healed my nagging hamstring problem, one and a half years after it started. I guess this means I have to start running. Overall, I enjoyed the race, the company was excellent and made it worth the pain. Thanks, Baby Doll.