Sunbelt Cohutta Springs Triathlon - Triathlon

I was very surprised at my time even without a wetsuit. I also liked the wave start by estimated time. I had to with only a minimal amount of traffic. I did draft a little bit, however I need to take more advantage of this. If I had a sleeveless wetsuit I would have worn it. I would have died in my full wetsuit because of the sun.

No much, I was very happy with the results. I'll get better with time.

My times were ok, but this can be improved.

Practice

I had to stop twice because I dropped my chain. This added an extra 30 to 45 seconds on to my time. This course has lots of rollers. It was also very windy. This course was one of the best marked courses I've been on. They did a great job.

I really need a triathlon bike. It gets a little frustrating getting dropped by people that shouldn't be dropping me. With my current road bike, I need to do a little work on the front derailer.

Again, I need to practice transitions.

Practice

It was very hot on the run course. I was not acclimated to those conditions. There was also a long stead hill for nearly 1.5 miles. Since I've been recovering from a torn calf muscle, I've done very little hill running. This made for a long run.

I just need more time on the run.

Just some stretching


I need a triathlon bike first. Then I need to spend more time running which will happen. Finally I need to practice transitions. I definitely see lots of room for improvement which is exciting.


The race organizers were fantastic as well as the volunteers. They had more volunteers than I've ever seen for a smaller race. The course was also one of the best marked courses I've seen. The transition area was set up a little weird in my opinion. I much prefer transition areas were little thinking is involved. The after event food and drinks were minimal. They only provided bagels and bananas. Additionally they only provided water which was hot. Also the awards ceremony was very late. I waited 45 minutes after the scheduled time, but it still hadn't started so I left. Additionally the official results were off by 4 whole minutes from my watch time. Timing was terrible. Enough with the critique. This is a nice race that I'll probably do again in the future.