Triathlon #2

I completed the Peachtree City Triathlon a few weeks ago. The race distances were 525 m swim (1/3 mile), 13.1 mile bike and 3.1 mile run. I did the same race in 2007, and was shooting to beat my time of 80:58. I am an absolutely horrible swimmer, but I'm pretty decent at the other two disciplines. I did a decent amount of training this summer, especially in the pool, but I hit a snag when I pulled a muscle playing soccer about a month before the race.

I was still able to swim and cycle, but my running fitness went down. The day of the race I was nervous, yet confident that I could compete with my previous time. I felt like my swimming technique was better, thanks to some pointers from a friend. I have also spent a lot more time on the bike over the past few years.

As the race started, I swam the lake and hated it, as usual. Physically, I am able to swim fairly quickly, but my brain can't get the breathing down. I know HOW to do it, but I'm much more comfortable taking frequent, shallow breaths while exercising. This leads me to keep my head above water and tilt my body down like a plow as I swim. I'll see if I can't work on this for the future, but anyway...

I ended up shaving about a minute off of my swim time, which I was happy with. My transition was also quicker to the bike. I felt good on the bike, but I knew that I was going to be pushing it to beat my time from '07. I ended up about a minute slower on the middle leg, maybe because I pushed it harder on the swim, I don't know.

As I ran the last part of the race, I knew it was going to be close. I ended up finishing in 81:06, 8 seconds slower than a few years ago. Overall, I finished #306 out of 1000+, so not too bad.

If I can ever figure out how to make swimming enjoyable, I will do a lot more of these races. Here are some pictures.