Don't know how I did this, but I was number 8, and I knew that meant I was 8th in line to start. How the hell did I get that far in front? I knew the guy behind me was a fast swimmer, and I asked him to at least give me to the first wall before he passed me. He laughed.

It was a TT start with :15 between send offs. The guy in front of me was off, so I dropped down in the pool. The official gave you a 5 second count down, and on 1 second I ducked and pushed off the wall for a perfect start. First 100 meters I was just gliding. I was having a little issue with my turns as I was flip-turning under the lane lines, but the issue I had was that we started in the deep end so I had 12' beteen me and the lane guide, so I was running up on the wall before my turns. Well, I got that sorted out after a few turns, and just focused on smooth strokes. Everything was going smooth until around the half way mark. I made my turn, and somehow got my finger stuck in the lane line. I had to rip my finger out of it, and that threw my focus off.

Also, I got passed by two guys during the swim about the half way mark. The first guy because I think I slowed down as I set it in cruise control, and the second guy, well, because he had a motorboat strapped to him.

I actually ran up on the guy infront of me after 250 meters, but he was going at a good clip and it was a solid but confortable pace for me, so I decided to draft the rest of the way. I could totally tell I was in the sweet spot off his feet, because I was in that perfect "bubble" area and my pace increased with less effort.

I just followed him to the ladder.

Swim harder?

T1 time unknow, but I would guess :40-1:00. I decided to go sockless, so it would save a few seconds; however, that was not the case. I failed to realize that in normal T2 your feet are dry from the bike leg. With this race you come out of the pool, and put your shoes on, and I did not think about the fact that my feet would be wet. So, getting my shoes on was tough. I actually fell over trying to get my first one one, and then I just shoved my foot in the second shoe on after that crap.

I passed the guy who started infront of me (the guy I was drafting off of), and a few others during transition.

Be more forceful with getting my wet feet in the shoes.

After leaving the pool area you run up and around a couple of buildings to the trail/start of the actual 5K run. From there you go down into the woods and start lap one of the run.

I started up the first hill, and then made a zig-zag before I spoted the guy in front of me. The chase was on! I started reeling him in, slowly, and then saw two females (#4&5), and I thought it's going to be a twopher pass, woo-hoo! I passed and dropped them on the next hill, and then there was a longer decent. The guy in front of me was moving about the same speed I was down hill. The bad news for him was that there was about to be a flat section, and then another hill. When we hit that flat section, the gap decreased. When he hit the next hill, I blew on past. Mile marker 1.

Then I found my self in no-lands-land for a bit, until I came upon another twopher (#6 female, and the other guy that pasted me in the water), so I dropped the hammer. It was great, they were on each side of the trail and I came up the center. They both heard me coming, and turned to look, glancing at one another in the process as I blew by. Again, back to no-lands-land. I came upon mile marker 2 shortly after. .1 mile later there was mile marker 3, YES, I thought they had messed up the marker locations until I realized I had one more lap to go. Oops....

During my second lap I started passing people on their first lap, which provided me some mojo to run them down. other than that, it was uneventful. When I got to the finish, I realized I was the second person in. Only the first guy that started the race had beaten me to the line. However, with a TT start there was no telling where I would finish.

Push a bit harder. I always get caugh in "no-mans-land" with no one in front of me, and no one behind me, so I don't have anyone to push me. Long-story-short, I end up putting it in a fast curise control to the end.

I went to the edge of the hill to cheer the other racers in. After Derek & others came in, we all walked back to transition and I changed shoes, etc. I did do a short little cool down run to loosen up the legs, but nothing much.

After that, we hung out waiting for awards.


Two things...

1. The run was a mix between a little paved trail, but mostly trail run. I never run trails, so the trail/gravel, mixed with navigating around water/mud puddles slowed me a bit.

2. I drank too much the night before. It was an 11:00 AM start, so I knew I could sleep in. Oops...


This is a fun very little race put on by the Emory Traithlon team. The race starts right on time, it is short, fast, and fun. The only draw back is the lag-time between the finish and awards. Since the timing is done by hand, it takes a while. There were plently of people to talk to, so it was not that big of deal.

Awards were done and I ended 4th OA, and took 1st AG podium (30-39). Yes, that is a 9 year AG. No idea why it was nine years, but whatever.

Awards were:
1st - $100 gift cards to Big Peach Running
2nd - $75
3rd - $50

AG winners picked a shirt off the table, and one of the options was a cycling jersey. Of course, I grabbed that. Personally, I think the cycling jersey was the best prize out there.