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 Swim
Comments: As most people know, swimming is definitely a major "limiter" for me and much of the "off-season" will be spent improving this area. This said, I felt very capable coming into this race. My stroke is starting to feel like a real stroke and swim times in the pool are slowly coming down, which would seem to confirm that work with Lisa M. and practice is paying off. This said, it's hard to prepare for swimming in OW with 80+ of your closest friends. I tried to stay wide today and avoid the crush, but it seemed like many guys in the wave had the same idea. Before I knew it, I was anaerobic and never was able to settle into a smooth cadence. Drowning was never a fear, but breathing got totally screwed. I sang "I Will Survive" to myself and finished the swim as best as possible. What would you do differently?: Try to create OWS practice scenarios that mimic swimming in a sardine can with lots of bodies... Seriously, I'm simply going to stay positive and keep plugging away...it's going to get there!  Transition 1
Comments: Solid t - especially in light of the swim. I walked from the water to the timing mat - ~100 yards...once officially in T1, I paced myself getting up the steep concrete incline...toward the end, I picked up the pace, and had a nice jog to my stall. What would you do differently?: Not much...based upon last year's T1 times I set a goal of 3:15 or better and beat it...next year, the T1 goal will be more aggressive.  Bike
Comments: Very pleased with this segment of the race. Recon via two test rides of the course paid off and I was able to turn the vision into reality. One somewhat funny thing happened after climbing the one "hill" (on New Bethany) on the course...as I settled into the flat sections after cresting, my stomach started lurching a bit...on Buford Dam Road the "lurch" turned into a mini-spew...thankfully no other cyclists were in my vicinity and I was able to turn my head and send *most* of the liquid safely to the side...did I say "most?" Yes...not all of it cleared me/the bike...niiiice...not. What would you do differently?: Not much - continue to improve power abilities and continue to work with Matt R. to make sure I'm as aero as possible on my bike. Not spew while racing. Oh yeah, and not dismount too early. I dismounted at the "mount" line, which meant a 25 yard jog to the actual "dismount" line. Dumb mistake - my bike time would've been sub-37...oh well. Transition 2
Comments: Not a bad T2, but I didn't meet my goal of 1:15 or better. Still, improvement is being made in this area. In hindsight, my running shoes should've been closer to the back wheel. That's all right, one more bit of knowledge filed away for future use. What would you do differently?: Envision/evaluate *each* transition a bit more critically and position shoes & other items accordingly.  Run
Comments: My first mile split was ~9 and the second mile split was close to the same; either the third mile was not a full mile, or I really picked up the pace - we did have a nice slightly downhill to flat stretch prior to the final push - but a ~7:16 (according to my watch) for the third mile split seems too fast. The nicest thing about the run - I didn't walk, even though my legs were screaming while dealing with the "up" sides of the rolling course. What would you do differently?: Not much - keep working on runs after biking. Time to really start ramping up the interval work - this is how I'll get the times down. Post race
Warm down: Grabbed a water & banana and chatted with a few folks. Then loaded up my gear and bike and brought it to the car; walked out on the run course after unloading and cheered on the late arrivals. Saw Deb (from our tri club, NAMC) and Kristen (enders_shadow) and cheered them on the final stretch. Walked back over to the post-race area and saw David and Ant as well Deb again (great job, Deb!); also, saw other NAMC'ers Courtney and Kraig as well as David O again. What limited your ability to perform faster: Better swim and better run. However, completing the swim in a positive state of mind and staying mentally strong during the run were two huge mental victories today. I know my limiters and they're going to be dealt with during the "off-season." Event comments: This was my first GA Multisport race - very impressed. Jim Rainey and his crew put on a quality event. We're blessed to have two VERY capable and quality tri production orgs - GA Multisport and Blue Sky Sports (Tri the Parks series) - in Georgia. Last updated: 2007-08-25 12:00 AM
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United States
Georgia MultiSports Productions, LLC.
70F / 21C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 205/684
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 24/51
*"Body clock" had me up early and out the door a little after 5. Hit BP and grabbed some java and then finished the trek over to Lake Lanier Islands. Then things got a bit strange...first, it *appeared* that they were making all of the athletes and specatators park in the first public lot - about 1 mile from Transition. I pulled in, found a parking place, and proceeded to unload my stuff. After a few minutes, I saw David O'Rear and we started chatting. About the same time, we both noticed a big RV (the long ones) hauling a$$ through the parking lot. I made a comment to David that the driver appeared to be going a bit too fast. Within two seconds, as the guy was swinging the RV pretty hard left, he went too hard left and we heard a parked car being hit. Uh oh, better get Maaco. David and I just looked at one another in disbelief. Can you say "Daaayyyyum!" The driver immediately stopped, and David and I walked over to check out the demo job. Sure enough the car's bumper was now resting on the asphalt. The driver came around, wrote down the license plate of the car he hit, left his business card, and it looked like everything was under control. While doing so he mentioned that the lot directly across from Transition was open and that's why he was in such a hurry. Good enough for me; I packed up my things and made a quick move to the closer lot. David did mention the accident to a law enforcement type and I mentioned same to one of the race officials.
Unlike past races, nothing this time. Stretched, listened to MP3 player, chatted with a few folks; once down at the water, dove in, took a few strokes - everything felt good. Chatted with ADollar (Andrew), atl_runner (Ron), FALLS-RUNNER (David)