Lake Lanier Islands was my debut triathlon, and was a whole lot of fun. I’ll certainly be doing more in the future.

The weekend started early, and Saturday we (Rhonda and Abigail in tow) drove the hour plus to Lake Lanier for packet pickup and bike check in. This turned into a lot of plus due a bad wreck on GA20. Abigail was excited to see the helicopter flying round, but she is obviously too young to understand that it was an air ambulance which means someone was in very serious condition. (Motorbike/truck accident so I’m assuming the biker was the worse off)

Check in went well, walked down to the beach to see the swim course, which really reassured Rhonda that I wasn’t in serious danger of drowning. It was less distance offshore than I swam at Ullswater, and there would be lifeguards here. Walked up the steep climb to the transition area, and began mentally planning that.

Race day came, with a very early alarm. Woke up had coffee and some raisin toast before getting on the road a little after 4. Funnily enough there was little to no traffic…   Got to the parking area nice and early, had some water and munched on a bagel until it was getting closer to race time. About 6:15 went and set-up my transition area then it was just time to wait until the move to the beach at about 7. Was in a pair of tri shorts plus a bright orange fairly tight fitting shirt. Was wearing my orange  wrist band for Jenny, my Boston Memorial band, a road ID and my Bikepure wristband, no Garmin. I wanted to pace by feel only.

Race briefing was short, then it was all set for the 1^st wave to go a 7:30. Waves were by AG and I was due to go a 7:42.

I hung to the back to the wave as I knew the swim would be slow for me. When we went I was amazed at the warmth of the water (76 degrees) and I started doing front crawl. My first experience of a mass swim, and I wasn’t comfortable with that, so very quickly switched to breast stroke for better sighting. Kept a steady rhythm, not setting any records, but keeping my energy intact.

Lesson #1: I was overdressed. Next time lose the shirt for sure it slowed me down and wasn’t necessary.

Towards the end did get passed by some of the speedier guys from the wave behind us, but I also passed some VERY slow guys from the wave ahead. Wasn’t last in the AG out of the water, so there’s a plus. Jogged across the pontoon and briskly walked up the hill to the transition area.

I had my socks rolled up and they unrolled nicely on the wet feet. Shoes on, helmet on, and number belt on (but with my number towards my back) then unrack bike and walk quickly towards the cycle exit. Cross the mount line and get on and off I go, it’s a sharp downhill out of the area, with a hard 90 degree right turn at the bottom, so I didn’t let my speed get up much. Once onto the main road its work up through the gears *boom* drop my chain. In my excitement I made a silly mistake and it was entirely user error. Fix that, taking under 30 secs, then off again.

There are a few distinct memories from the bike ride. Firstly I was swapping position with an AG rival almost constantly. I was faster on the downhill and uphills, he was faster on the flat. We had the same swim time, so it was a ding dong battle the whole way. That was an added incentive for sure. The other major memory was powering uphills when people were getting off and pushing. I may (sorry do, frequently) bitch and moan about my local roads, but for sure they have got me ready for these little rolling ups and downs. I couldn’t believe folks were dismounting on the climbs.

I did get passed by some of the elite women, it was quite amazing seeing how smooth they were and how low they were in their tuck positions. I did see the lead male pass by in the opposite direction, but it was like he was gone in a flash. Just at the end of the bike rider a few of the collegiate women passed me (The University of Alabama was well represented at the race). All in all I think I passed more folks than passed me (a gut feeling not verified in the results).

Did a very fast transition (rack bike, helmet off, go and spin number to front as I make the way to the run exit.) My legs really were not happy with me running, but I set what I thought was a good pace and mentally told them to shut up.

Lesson #2 More bricks. I only did a couple, this wasn’t enough.

The run course was definitely not flat, and that made the legs protest even more. I felt this was my strongest leg, and focused on just picking people off and slowly moving up the field. I did pass a couple of those ‘Bama girls who sped past me on the bike., but equally a couple of other of them passed me.  Until the last mile I was only passed by one girl, and passed a whole lot of the guys ahead of me. That last mile I must have slowed a bit, as a few folks came past me. Mustered what probably was fairly laughable as a ‘sprint’ attempt to cross the line, and I was done.

Swim (400 yard) 15:13

Transition 1 2:06

Bike (13 mile) 48:09

Transition 2 0:48

Run (5k) 26:31

Looking at the results, my AG ‘rival’ and bike rack buddy (#287) was same time in the swim, faster on the bike, faster on the run, but was 3 mins slower in total in the transitions and he finished a minute down overall on me.

Lesson #3 transitions transitions transitions. I did plan mine, and it for sure helped.

I did haul my way up the AG rankings on the run. By my reckoning going up 6 spots, so I’ll definitely call it my strongest leg.

So for my next one, I need to work more on my weakness (Swim leg), more bricks and wear less clothes in the water. If any of my neighbours are reading this may I apologies in advance for any time you see me practicing on the bike in speedos. That may be my preferred sprint tri costume, if I can cope with the bike leg in them. Failing that I may get some shorter tri shorts.

Locally, there is a duoathlon in April I’m considering (Cartersville), and then another Sprint tri in June (Ackworth), plus coming back to this race next September. I quite like the idea of having a running focus October – March/April, then multisports in the summer. Going to have to plan my year more carefully in 2014.

You need a tri suit!  Doing tris is all about the gear.

Great job on your first!

I have power grips on the pedals, so yeah running shoes (actually trail shoes) are my biking shoes for now.

Clipless pedals would cost me more than I paid for the bike. If I stick with tris into 2015 I may treat myself to a new bike.

My current bike is a 1980's vintage Schwinn traveler (steel tubed) I picked up for $50 with some refurbishment thrown in.

My bike currently perched in my office. I'm going to get an hour or so in after work before I drive home.

Canton (North Metro Atlanta).

No concrete plans, but I keep eying the Rocket City marathon as a possibility

Very nice, Richard!  Please post speedo pics next time!   I just did my first du and it was kind of fun.  I'm actually a better cyclist than runner.  Imagine that. 

 

Wait, what?

"...and wear less clothes in the water. If any of my neighbours are reading this may I apologies in advance for any time you see me practicing on the bike in speedos."

I want Richard to post pictures of himself wearing speedos on the bike. 

 

I want Richard to post pictures of himself wearing speedos on the bike. 

I don't want to hear about the chaffing after......

Congrats on your first Tri.  and you get extra props for kicking ass on that bike.  Steel may be "real" but I'm guessing it's real heavy too (compared to your competition).

Tris are all about stuff - we'll be happy to help you spend your money