Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Just not that great of a swim for me. Don't want to sound like I am making excuses, but starting 15 people from the back when there are over 1000 people in the race is really not that fun when you are decent swimmer. Just ended up swimming around people the whole time which slowed me down a good bit. Oh well.

Be older so I could start with the 30-39 guys towards the front of the pack. :-)

Meh. Loooong run to get to my bike since I was in the exact opposite corner from the swim entrance and bike exit. Still don't know how I could possibly have taken that long. 3:03!?! Seriously, I think I was eating some leftovers from Greg's delicious feast the night before.

Everything!

Not as bad a I remember from the previous year, so I was pleased with the performance considering the conditions. Absolute downpour on the way back. You know...the kind of rain that actually hurts when it hits you. Actually hydroplaned once when a big truck came by and blasted a gust of wind at me. That scared me out of my aerobars for a minute. Held almost the same pace as I did at WestPoint on what I would consider a harder course. Since I was starting at the back, I had the joy of seeing all of the poor people flatting on the course. I must have passed by at least 50 people with flats. That's just not cool.

Pray harder for the rain to hold off until the run. Riding in the rain is not that much fun.

Got back to transition and since I had forgotten to cover my running shoes with the garbage bag I brought (duh!), they were soaked along with my socks. Tossed the shoes on w/o socks and took off.

Actually use the garbage bag I brought for just such an occasion.

Not my best. The mishap of not covering my shoes carried over to the actual run in a BIG way. Mile 1 = BLISTERS. Decided that since I have pretty tough feet, running on smooth cement and grass when available was going to play out much better than more blisters which were inevitable. Popped the shoes off and kept going with one in each hand. Actually worked out quite well, so maybe I will have to start training like that. It would definitely shorten T2. :) It actually made the run go by quickly too, since everyone was commenting to me about the lack of shoes. Kind of fun!

Remember to cover shoes in case of sudden downpour and maybe push a little harder. I think I was concentrating on not stubbing a toe so much that I lost mental focus when I should have been pushing myself to go faster even though it was painful.

Grab water and salt. Cheered the remaining competitors in to the finish in between stretching.


Rain and wet shoes.


Still don't love the highway bike ride, but it still works out to be a good overall course.