I was glad we got to wade in the water. It was so shallow, so far out, I was afraid we were going to have to run through it. I made my way closer to the front since I know that this is my best of the three and there were a lot of first timers I didn't want to swim over. Found some feet to draft here and there, but with only 400 yds, it was a little tight. Rounded the first buoy pretty fast. After the turn the sun was right in front of me which made sighting slightly more difficult. I swam until my hand hit the sand because I knew there was a lot of shallow water to run through. I looked up and thought for sure I was in the top 10 of my AG. Close.

I maybe could have pushed a tad bit harder. It was only 400. I swam as if it were 6-800.

I decided to not try out leaving my shoes on the bike. It wasn't working out as smoothly as I had hoped in practice. Since I had played it over in my head so many times that morning, I knew exactly what I had to do. And lucky for me, my bike was at the end rack, nearest the bike exit. So the run in the bike shoes was minimal.

Nothing. Flawless.

Thankfully, this was the flatest course I've been on yet. At mile 8 I was averaging 17.3. I knew my goal of under 50 was reachable and maybe even my exceptional goal of 47. I was more than happy with this bike. I definitley passed more people than people passed me. And I think 16.5 is a new record for me! Oh yea, and I got out of my shoes while on the bike!

Figure out why my tailbone seems to hurt like hell during every race. It is so uncomfortable. But it's only during races. Other than that, nothing. Very happy with this bike.

Holy cow. Again, after playing this over in my head so many times, I think I executed these transition as perfectly as I could have at this stage in my tri experience. This was much better than I had anticipated. I think the shoes with no socks was well worth it.

Nothing.

Everything was perfect until this run. Started off ok. I wore my garmin just to see my pace. I think it helps me when I don't realize that I'm going slow. I notcied I was around 10, so I tried to pick it up, and pretty successfully, even given a good amount of hills in the first mile. Mile 2 I picked it up thanks to some flats and downhills. I was probably averaging 8:30 for mile 2. Around 2.5 I started to pick it up knowing the finish was near. I looked at the Garmin and saw 3.1, then 3.2, then 3.3. And still no end in sight. By 3.4 I was out of fuel. I was giving it everything I had for almsot a mile now and I was getting EXTREMELY frustrated that this was turning into a 10k. My pace dropped signifigantly from that point. I paced myself for a 3.1 and wound up running a 3.73. This might not seem like a huge difference, but it would be like adding an extra 2.5 miles to a half mary. I think if I knew beforehand, I would have paced myself better. But everywhere was advertised 5k. I was not a happy camper. I managed to keep it under 10m/mi. But it should have, and I think would have, been more like 9.

Map out the run first and see how long it actually is, then pace accordingly.

Well this part was easy. After waiting around at the finish looking for the shuttles they told us would be waiting, I decided to walk, like everyone else. It turned out to be a 30 minute walk back to transition. Yea, that's what I wanted to do after running an extra .6 miles.


The extra almost mile that I was unaware of.


The volunteers were great. Throughtout the race, everything seemed well organized and well staffed. Two big problems that I had with this race are the inaccurate run course. There's no reason they couldn't have removed a block or the fisrt loop in the park to make a little closer to a 5k. And second, the lack of transportation back to the start. It was a little far and I saw no shuttles (except while I was running), and no signs of where to go to get the shuttle, and no volunteers pointing people in the right direction. A 30 minute walk back is not what I want after race. I was very disappointed in Georgia Multisports. Other than those things, and the extremely boring bike route along a major road, it was a pretty good race. Thanks to all the volunteers, including Neal who was sure to write my age in gigantic print. And all the NAMCers who volunteered and cheered for me even though I'm not one of them yet. :-)