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chattanooga waterfront olympic tri

in july i completed my training and ran the chattanooga waterfront olympic tri. it was quite an experience. there were more people in transition than i had ever seen. a sea of bikes. i liked how some, more experienced, athletes had marked their locations with unusual balloons. like, as i run in from the swim, i know my bike is where the scooby doo balloon is. i WILL do this at my half iron!

with so many competitors, approx 2500, there was a lot of waiting that morning which is the most difficult part. the swim was great, though. we slid in, one at a time, off the end of a dock and were let go in 3 sec intervals. it was an awesome swim! the channel was so wide that i rarely had anyone around me. the current was at a dead stop but i completed the 1500meter swim in 26:48 and felt really good.

i found my bike and got my gear on in a decent time, but as i stepped off the carpet, to mount my bike, promptly fell on my butt! you could here the collective gasp of the crowd. how embarassing! but, ya just get up and move on. the bike felt great and i was shocked at how many of the athletes were obviously NOT cyclists. i irritated one guy, to no end, by passing him on all hills and then he'd pass me on the flat. i finally told him, no worries, you're going to KILL me in the run. i also passed a 21yo girl (ages are on your calf) and heard her say 42! seriously! guess it's hard when "mom" passes you in a race! lol. i avg. 17.9 on the big rollers course that's 26mi.

running in from the bike, i realized the value of the balloon markers as i couldn't find my place on the rack!! i, eventually, found my spot and racked my bike and got the runnin shoes on. there's nothing like the pain of the first mile of the run. your legs are just completely dead!immediately, the guy from the bike passed me with a big smile and wave. i told him, see, i told you! i was having a good run the first 2miles and then my IT band issues kicked in and i had to slow down or not finish. i was just fatigued enough to not be too upset about slowing down. thank goodness it was overcast so, not too crazy hot also. i slowed my pace and decided to enjoy the rest of the run. i knew so many people in this race that it was so fun to cheer each other as we passed. it began to rain at the end of the run, best case scenario for me! love to run in the rain. unfortunately, it was downhill into the finish and that is very painful with the IT issues, but i was so proud at the finish to end under 3hrs, my goal. i finished the 6mi run in57:25.

i finished the race in 2:49:50 overall. 7th out of 40 in my age group, which qualified my for age group nationals! how exciting! and made my coach proud....a beautiful thing!