While waiting around, I heard a lot of people in my A/G say they were going to take the outside. So I decided to take the inside this time. It still turned out to be a washing machine, but worked well for the first 200m as I was able to find some feet. But after the turn, I ended up swimming over the guy which was a little bit of a struggle and I got off course and had to adjust. I got a little concerned I was pushing too hard and backed off a little when I probably shouldn't have. I was shooting for a 12 min swim, but it was more like a 13+min swim without the uphill transition run included.

This is the first time I stayed in the pack for the first 200m before it started to thin out and I was very happy about that. Look for better feet to follow when it thins out.

T1 was different this year, being in a parking lot instead of on grass. Pre-race, I was a little concerned about going downhill in bike shoes but it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated and should have gone faster.

Next time I have a pre-race question about a situation, i.e. the downhill run with bike shoes, I should test it out before the race. It would have eliminated any hesitancy I had.

This is the first race with my P2C and getting on the bike was a little hairy. There was someone in front of me who completely stopped then a guy next to me cut in front and almost ran in to that person. I had to go off road to avoid crashing. Got settled in and had my only drink during the bike. Just before I left the park, I noticed that my bike computer was acting weird. I had done a pre-race check but it was only registering 0.5mph when I sped up and even when I slowed down. Then going up THE hill, I down shifted and lost my chain. I kept pedaling and shifting but it wouldn't catch. Finally, just as I was about to unclip, it caught and I got out of the saddle to get my speed back up. I was hoping to average 21-22mph but without the computer it was hard to gauge. I handled the bike course much better than last year. I also got stung on the forehead by a bee or something on the way back. I started to loose focus and slowing down wondering what stung me until I saw I was gaining on the bike in front of me. Then I hammered a little to pass and forgot about the sting until I got home and it started to throb. Since GCT, I have been practicing the flying dismount bringing my leg to the inside instead of outside. I got out of my shoes a little early, but completed the flying dismount with leg inside and stepping off just as I hit the dismount line. I was very happy with the flying dismount for 2 reasons: 1 - because it was my first flying dismount in a race done the correct way, and 2 - because I later found out that a ref was there taking numbers of who passed the line before dismounting.

I'm going to have my bike computer checked out. I also should have visually marked a spot on the way out to where I would get out of my shoes.

I was slower than I would have liked running up the hill with my bike and then I had a slight problem racking my bike. The guy on the other side of me threw his bike on the rack front first which came in to my transition area. So I had to move it sideways and try to rack my bike. But the weight of the other bikes created a little bend toward the center of the pole and made it difficult to get my high seat underneath it. After I got my shoes on, grabbed my number and visor, I decided to drink some water since I didn't drink that much on the bike.

Nothing I could really do about the bike racking. But it was the same head ref as GCT and I remembered that Brian said he was a stickler for bike racking. Unfortunately, I didn't see and racking violations on the judges report. Oh well, maybe I shouldn't wish penalties on anyone anyway, especially after what Mike Neill went through at GCT. Other than that, I should have waited until I got on the run course for water.

This year I ran the whole course and could feel the hills on the straight part of the course. I was also able to keep a good pace for most of the course but again started to loose focus until Dan yelled at me, told me to focus on the back of the person in front of me and kick it in. Which I did. When I got back to the grassy area where cars were parked I picked it up some more and with about 150 yards left I sprinted to the finish. HR 183. Nice! It was cool seeing Tony and Marc waiting for me at the finish along with my friends at Southern Crescent Tri Club.

More hill work.

Grabbed a bottle of water and walked around for a little bit.


Need more time on my P2C.


This was a good, fun race and I'm glad I was there with friends and the Southern Crescent Tri Club. Yes, I've mentioned the club several times, but I'm excited that there is finally a club on the southeast side of ATL. It's a small club, but a tri club none-the-less. It was also good to meet Lhablas, Felix, and Steamy at Fresh Air BBQ after the race.

Last year, this was my first tri and I finished in 1 hour 49 minutes. This year, my goal was 1:20:00 to 1:25:00. I finished in 1:19:54. Although I see a lot of things to work on and I made some mental mistakes, I couldn't be happier when shaving 30 minutes from last year's time.