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 Swim
Comments: The horn blew and because the water was really shallow, you actually had to walk out a little until you could swim. I dropped as soon as I could and started swimming. Somehow I'd already ended up at the back of my wave, but it didn't take long to start passing other swimmers. I felt really comfortable in the water, even though you couldn't see a thing. I just looked for bubbles and tried not to swim over anyone. There was a little bit of unavoidable contact, but it wasn't too bad. Before I knew it, it was time to stand up! I probably could have swum a little closer to shore, I stood up early and had to run through the water. I made it up the beach, rounded the corner and ran all the way through transition. Our swim time includes about half of the run to transition. What would you do differently?: I'm pretty happy with this, I was very relaxed and stayed right on course.  Transition 1
Comments: Swim-in was at the opposite end from my transition area. I ran all the way to my spot and was very methodical getting my glasses, watch and helmet on. My socks and shoes slowed me down a little, but I didn't waste any other time. Ran out with my bike (didn't have to run far, I was the third rack from bike exit). What would you do differently?: I really need to figure out how else to speed up T1, since this was a pretty small transition area and a short distance from the water, it could have been better. I figure that I have to put socks on in T1 or T2, so why not now.  Bike
Comments: I had no trouble mounting my bike, I just tried to be careful and not hurry. My aero bottle had melted enough, and I had a little splashing at the beginning even with the cap. Guess I need to add the shower pouf thing. I felt really strong on the bike and started passing right from the beginning. This is totally new to me. I'm used to hearing 'On Your Left', not saying it! There was a lot of congestion on the course, so I tried to stay within the rules, but man, it was hard, I was worried about penalties! Lots of riders together and long lines of people. I felt really good and even though the course was advertised as 'rolling hills', it seemed all flat and downhill. There were one or two small, short hills, but nothing really noticeable. I was smiling and having a ton of fun on the course. As the miles clicked by, I was almost wishing it was longer! I had a little trouble trying to pass at the top of a hill because there with a turn coming up. I'm sure my picture looks silly because I was half in aero and half up trying to figure out what to do. Why do they put photographers at turns? The riders around me had started riding more slowly the last few miles and it was almost impossible to pass because everyone had bunched up. This was a bummer because I had been trucking along nicely, averaging 18 or so, which would have been an awesome split for me. It was still good though and I'm pleased with the progress. We came around the bend and it was time to dismount. No issues there and I ran into transition with my bike. What would you do differently?: I would have tried to pass closer to the end to maintain my pace, but I was worried about penalties. Transition 2
Comments: Dropped my helmet, swapped shoes and grabbed my visor and number belt. Ran through the exit and grabbed some water on the way out. What would you do differently?: Nothing, this was speedy for me!  Run
Comments: The first portion of the run course had a few hills, and I was trying to stay in Z2 per coach's instructions. This wasn't happening, but I felt strong. I think the last few bricks have really helped my comfort level in running off the bike. Once I hit Mile 1, I picked things up with instructions to run the last 2.1 hard. I did this with the exception of walking up one hill towards the end of the route. As my Garmin clicked past 3.1 with no finish line in site, I figured the course might be a bit long. I really wanted to go under 12 minute mile average on my run, so I just hung in there and dug deep. There were a few hills just before the finish, which took the pace down a little bit. But when we rounded the corner and I saw the finish banner, I kicked it in hard. What would you do differently?: If I'd have known the course was long, I'd have held back a little to save something for the last half mile. Post race
Warm down: Finished feeling really great! Grabbed my shirt, waited in line for a long, long time and grabbed a few bites. There was a ton of food out, but nothing looked really appetizing to me. They did a fabulous job with the spread though - I was just getting impatient and ready to go. We walked just over a mile back to transition and I gathered up my gear and loaded the car. Had an easy drive home, which was so nice! What limited your ability to perform faster: I need to drop some weight. But really, for me, this race was phenomenal! PR in all aspects. Event comments: Overall, this was one of THE best race experiences I have ever had, including all of my running races. I enjoyed the entire race, start to finish, and felt strong the whole way. I did great with nutrition, pacing and most importantly, had fun. This is a really big jump for me in confidence, because I've had some tough runs in my past few tri races. I just kept wishing for more on this race! Last updated: 2008-06-29 12:00 AM
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United States
Georgia Multisports Productions, LLC
85F / 29C
Sunny
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These are all estimates on time as they haven't posted the official results yet.
The last few weeks of training have been going well, so I was curious how that would translate to this race. My last sprint was in October, so it's been awhile! It wasn't really on my radar until Saturday, when our club did a super-sprint race and then I got excited about racing.
I got my transition bag packed and loaded in the car the night before, so that race morning would be super easy. The alarm went off at 4AM and I was up and ready. Got dressed, grabbed a PB&J sandwich and loaded the bike. I was on the road by 4:30. I planned to get to the race when transition opened because I'd heard parking was tough. I rolled in around 5AM and was probably the fifth person there. Oops. Guess I was just a wee bit early. I forget how empty the roads are that early in the morning!
I had a headlamp, which worked out well in the dark park. I was able to pump my tires at the car, so I didn't have to carry my pump to transition. Headed over and grabbed the very end spot all the way against the fence on my rack. That gave me a little bit of room to put my stuff off to the side, even though my bike was pretty much at the end of the rack. I got all set up, and then realized that my frozen aero bottle might not thaw in the cool air! Oops! Oh well, to be dealt with later! Finished setting up, did some stretching and then headed to body marking, to pick up my chip and hit the porta-potties. I had a ton of time, but it was dark, so I couldn't go for my warm-up run. I headed back to my bike to try and thaw my bottle. Poured some warmer water in and the iceberg finally started to move around inside. Got it melted enough to get my straw in! Woohoo! Once that was done, I hung out and chatted with others, took a group picture with my club and visited the bathrooms. Eventually it was time for transition to close and we headed to the beach.
Swim start and finish were right next to transition. This was the first time I've been so close - it rocked!! There were 5 waves, each about 3 minutes apart and mine was last. As the race started, we watched the first wave head towards the buoys, round the first and then head out across the course. I couldn't believe how short the swim course looked – I was really thrilled! I'm used to looking off into the distance at a row of buoys that never seem to end. This was a little rectangular course, so you went straight out, turned right, passed two buoys and then rounded the last one and headed to shore.