Got our asses up at 3am, Joe's Magic Oatmeal + coffee for breakfast. Showered, loaded up the kids and headed out. Doug drove, because he rocks.

Stopped at downtown Sports Barn to deposit my T2 items and get marked. Then we drove to the swim start at the Chickamauga dam. Got my number and chip, pottied, set-up my transition area and ran through my transition a couple of times.

Warm-up, schwarm-up. Stood in line to get my t-shirt and use the potty again. Ate a Gu on my way to the swim start.

I seeded myself well, on the outside in the front row. There had been a countdown for the previous 7 waves, so I was very surprised when the horn blared out of nowhere. Slid my googles down and took off.

I went WAY too fast in the first 150-200 yards. Suddenly I was in the middle of nowhere with no other people around me and I freaked out. I thought I had gone off with the men's wave ahead of us by mistake. I treaded a little water until I saw a chick and then I got started again. It was very hard to calm myself down and I never could find my groove. We caught the wave in front of us so it was tough coming up to the finish. Swam as far as I could and then sprinted up the hill. On the plus side, I navigated pretty well this race because the RDs had made it so easy with the milkjugs.

Not be such a numbskull! Seriously, I wouldn't have been in the front line if it hadn't have been my wave. And even if I had screwed it up, the RDs would probably have worked it out with me at the finish. I didn't recover well from the setback either - need to work on that. See what happens when you race no triathlons for 11 months.

Transition includes the big hill up to the parking lot, the big hill up to my bike and the remainder of the hill to the bike start. I did OK - nothing stellar, but no glaring errors.

Put all of my T1 gear in my backpack and ride with it. Instead, I left my bag (switched for a Trader Joes bag) and the RDs brought it to the finish. This was a rackless T1, so I found the first open curb for my bike, which was far from the bike exit and the swim finish. I could have picked a closer spot by not insisting on a curb.

I started out a bit slow, but passed a lot of people struggling with their clips and putting their feet into shoes. My goal was to have a pace over 20mph. I was up to 22 mph average when I dropped my chain. Stopped and replaced it, but about 10 people passed me. I thought I had re-passed them all, but the woman who won my AG must have passed me here or in transition. Boo. I saw Doug and the girls as I slowed down to get to the dismount line. It's so nice to see them at a race!

Not drop my stupid chain. Other than that, take the corners faster. I lost a lot of time coming back into town. Maybe hammer a little harder. Since we were the 2nd to last wave, no one passed me on the bike except when I had the chain issue. Though I always complain about getting passed, I think it might be easier with some rabbits to chase.

I had to move some bikes on my rack to make room for mine, and I put my visor on before I started to run. 2nd fastest time in my AG.

Put the visor on after starting to run.

I started out feeling awesome! I pulled my visor and and flew out of transition. I waved to Doug and the girls and was going 6:08 pace down Market Street. Then we went up the big hill. People were walking, so I encouraged them. No one was having my encouragement today and other than the 31 year old guy who I got to run because I'm older than him, they continued to walk. As we went around then next corner, the run got harder. I drank a bit of water and dumped the rest on my head at the first water stop. My breathing was very labored and it was really hard to go fast. I did the best I could and tried to encourage folks along the way, but this run was hard. I don't think I'm in sprint shape right now. I did encourage one kid (probably 15-16) as we came back down Market Street. I told him that he had me, but I was going to make him work for it and he sped up. We passed Doug and the girls so I was buoyed by them and caught back up to the kid. He was coasting so I made him kick it in to the finish. : )

No one passed me on the run either.

Run more. Faster.

Wandered around in the sun looking for Doug and the girls.

Stupid mistake on the swim. Chain-droppage on the bike. Lack of fitness on the run. I can fix all of these things, so I'm not too distressed.

And, instead of trophies, we got CASH! $15 for 2nd place. Doug and I agreed that we would like a trophy better but still, cash is good.

This was a nice race and well-organized. The dual transition area setup was confusing, but it worked fine. After having done the race, I would advise folks to simply race with a small backpack to avoid trying to find your transition bag afterwards.

Apparently, no one mentioned that racers should stay to the right on the bike so I had to "on your left" a lot, but the course was very pleasant and except for the late start the whole race ran without a hitch just as advertised.

The race report form showed the run as 2.5 miles when was only 2 miles.

Race Reports Modeled with Permission from
Endurancecoach's Triathlon Post Race Analysis Sheet.