Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Chatanooga, Tennessee
United States
Team Magic
80F / 27C
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 37m 48s
Overall Rank = 256/788
Age Group = Male 30-34
Age Group Rank = 43/117
Pre-race routine:

Got a good night's rest at a hotel in Chattanooga. Got up around 4:30, ate a Clif bar, had some coffee, showered, and headed off to the race site. Had plenty of time to set up my transition area, get body marked, and chat w/ fellow ATC'ers.
Event warmup:

Hah! I did run half a mile to warm up, but unfortunately it was about an hour and a half before the race start! My warm up consisted of waiting in the line for the porta potties and little light stretching, because there was no pre-race swimming warm up allowed.
Swim
  • 25m 15s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 32s / 100 yards
Comments:

I really enjoyed this swim. I think I ended up swimming a little too close to the shore line, missing the main current, but it still was fast for me. Of the 3 disciplines, I've seen the quickest improvement in my swim times. This probably has something to do with the fact that it was this leg that freaked me out the most 6 months ago, therefore acting as a great motivator for me to get better.

Today I found a good rhythm in my stroke, breathing, and sighting. I only bumped into people 2 or 3 times, but felt like I passed quite a few. I still came out of the water with a fast heart rate, but nothing like what I experienced in the 3 previous sprint tris.
What would you do differently?:

A few times in the middle of the swim I considered trying to swim closer to the buoys (which were closer to the middle of the river), but decided against it. I figured I would waste too much time swimming there and back to make it worthwhile. If I do this race next year, I'll try and stick closer to the buoys from the start.

Overall, there's definitely room for improvement but I feel I'm steadily getting faster.
Transition 1
  • 02m 27s
Comments:

This transition definitely felt faster than the time states. Granted, the transition area was huge. Ended up 31/117 for my age group.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, I feel pretty good about my transitions.
Bike
  • 1h 19m 32s
  • 26.1 miles
  • 19.69 mile/hr
Comments:

The bike leg of this race is what had me the most stressed beforehand. I'd heard that it was very hilly and tough. Yes, it ended up being very hilly, but I didn't dislike it at all. There were several long ascents that were tough, but not too steep. The redeeming part of the course was the long, fast descents where I got going 40 mph and had a death grip on my aerobars. I'd also heard people complain about the course being on a highway, but I actually really liked how straight it was, and somewhat scenic with the mountains around. I have ZERO technical bike skills, so the fewer turns the better.

This being my 1st Olympic tri, and having neglected my bike training, I made a concerted effort to keep my exertion level in check. This applied especially to the hills where I tried to keep as high a cadence as possible and stay in the saddle to avoid going anaerobic. With a little more bike training I think I could've attacked the hills more aggressively.

The area in which I was most pleased was my gearing. Other than climbing the steeper hills, I was able to keep my cadence pretty consistent by proper gear selection...no chain pop offs either!

What would you do differently?:

A consistent theme in every race report I've written thus far is my lack of bike training. I do feel I'm improving, but I stand to gain the most time overall by getting faster on the bike. I hereby vow to make more weekend bike training sessions...ATC'ers, hold me to it!
Transition 2
  • 01m 14s
Comments:

This was a good transition. 23/117 in my age group.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Run
  • 49m 22s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 07m 57s  min/mile
Comments:

My legs felt pretty good after the bike. My plan was to take the first couple of miles at 7:45/mile pace and after that to speed up or hold on depending on how I felt. The first 5 miles felt fine and were very consistent with splits of 7:44, 7:41, 7:42, 7:43, and 7:49. I was having fun seeing club members all over the place (there were between 25 and 30 of us) and encouraging walkers to get running again.

Around the beginning of mile 6, my right quad and hamstring were tightening up and causing a little knee pain. In an attempt to stretch my muscles, I kicked my knee up and immediately got a knotted cramp in my right hamstring. It hurt like crazy and I had to stop and try and work it out. Luckily it loosened up enough for me to jog and I started moving again. Unfortunately, between stopping and some slow jogging to work it out, my 6th mile split ended up being 8:54. I was the glad the final portion of the run was downhill as the gravity carried me along to the finish. Had I maintained my pace, I would've finished around a 7:45/mile pace (48 minutes or so), which I would've been pleased with.
What would you do differently?:

I need to stay well-hydrated and maybe experiment with some electrolyte replacements. I had never cramped during exercise until about a month ago, and have now cramped twice during training swims and during this run today. This cramp luckily only cost me about a minute, but it would've been much more if it had happened earlier in the race.

I'm feeling better about my run, but I know that I've got lots of room for improvement as I start to run more hills, harder, and longer.
Post race
Warm down:

I felt so tired and tight at the finish that I had to force myself to walk around for a few minutes and drink some water. It took me a while before I felt I was going to be able to stretch and not cramp up again.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Overall training volume is getting higher each month. Bike training is the area going forward where I'm really going to try and get much more in...it is my worst discipline now.

Other than my cramp, I did as well as I could "dancing with the date I brung!"

Event comments:

Excellent race! This was the best race I've been to so far, next to Gulf Coast. There were tons of volunteers and multiple announcers on the mics encouraging racers and giving instructions. I really enjoyed the courses for each leg and the race finish/transition area along the river. I'll definitely be back next year.




Last updated: 2009-02-17 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:25:15 | 1640 yards | 01m 32s / 100yards
Age Group: 44/117
Overall: 0/788
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course: Down river point to point in the Tennessee river. Apparently there was a current. Either I missed it due to where I was swimming or just couldn't feel it.
Start type: Deep Water Plus:
Water temp: 80F / 27C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding:
T1
Time: 02:27
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
01:19:32 | 26.1 miles | 19.69 mile/hr
Age Group: 56/117
Overall: 0/788
Performance: Average
Wind: Some
Course: Out and back on a highway with LONG rolling hills.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:14
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:49:22 | 06.21 miles | 07m 57s  min/mile
Age Group: 34/117
Overall: 0/788
Performance: Average
Course: Out and back along the river with one main hill to climb at the beginning and a set of stairs to climb up/down.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5