Swim
Comments: Well, the start was just like Ive heard in countless race reports: a washing machine of arms and legs. I probably should have started more in the back since I was climbed over multiple times. I would have done better if I had practiced more open water swims. I got my goggles kicked off at one point, but I don't think it took too much time to get them back on. The water was great, but I do tend to panic when I have limited visibility, and in this case it was especially bad. The water was cloudy and we were swimming into the sun, so fun times. I think the only thing that slowed me down was getting some gas in my stomach in the first part. I felt like I had to throw up so did the back stroke for a while until I burped Definitely felt better after that, and continued with freestyle. Bilateral breathing was impossible, but I did my best. Probably lost 1-2 minutes MAX due to inexperience. I was able to draft on a lot of feet, so it might have made up for it. What would you do differently?: Practice more OWS and get used to my surroundings Transition 1
Comments: Run up a short hill to transition. Look a second to get my land legs back, but it wasn't too bad. Wetsuit was trouble getting off, and got stuck on the timing chip. Wwtsuit difficulty probably cost me a good 20 seconds or so. Note to self: BUY BODY GLIDE!!! What would you do differently?: Body glide Bike
Comments: This could have not gone better. The course was very nice and I could not have asked for a better performance. Played leapfrog with a pro girl for a while. What would you do differently?: Focus a little better, I was distracted by all the beautiful bikes :) Transition 2
Comments: Flying dismount: success! Next I need to master the flying mount. Jelly legs wasnt that bad What would you do differently?: Go faster Run
Comments: I knew that I wasn't going to have an amazing time, running is my weakest link, so I did not expect much. Got passed by a lot of people, and if I would have been more run focused in my training, I would have finished a good 5 minutes faster. What would you do differently?: Not much, just log in some more run miles Post race
Warm down: Nothing really, walked around Event comments: In a way, it just felt like a long workout. With a lot of other people working out as well. Now I know what I need to focus on more to get better. I was expecting tears and crying "OMG I finally finished my first tri" but I didnt get that. There was more of a surreality of it all. I cried on my last race because it was just so mentally exhausting, and I was in a lot of pain, but that was not the case here. I was mentally ready for it, physically ready (no IT issues at all, wonderful!) and justw anted to have a good time. I wanted to finish in under 1.5 hrs, so I was very satisfied that i came in at 1:20. Finally, after almost a year or working and training, I am a triathlete! Now is where the real fun starts :) Last updated: 2008-04-15 12:00 AM
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United States
75F / 24C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 41/99
Age Group = Collegiate Male
Age Group Rank = 33/52
Well for starters, this was my first race and the experience was absolutely phenomenal. Our team (UGA TriDawgs) drove to Tuscaloosa Friday morning to take in the entire weekend of events. Everyone was really excited and very supportive, like one giant family. I love these guys so much!
Saturday included the Collegiate Nationals and Olympic Trials. All I can say is wow, these guys are intense. The biggest thing that I brought back from watching these talented athletes race was something to aspire to to. I now know what level I want to be at one day, and needless to say I have a long way to go
We arrived at the race site around 645 to grab our bikes and head to transition. Race start was at 8am sharp, and I was in the first wave. Got everything set up and thought out what I had to do in transition (since I've never done a real one before!). Did a 5 minute run to warm up since it was kind of chilly out and stretched out before putting the wetsuit on. Said a prayer and headed down to the dock to the race start. This is it