Last Saturday at Georgia Veterans Triathlon in Cordele, GA - Laura Register, Charlie Johnson and I represented TriAttic well and had a lot of fun along the way.
The swim: 400 yds
This swim was held in Lake Blackshear, it was a rectangular shaped swim with a turn about 150 yd into the swim. Needless to say the first turn was quite crowded. Charlie Johnson was second out of the water in his wave. He passed the lead male in T1 and never looked back. I had one of my best swims to date in a triathlon. I have been swimming with two different maters groups 2-3 times a week. The intensity I hit during maters swims prepared me for starting fast during the swim. I was 3rd out of the water and passed one girl in T1.
The bike: 13.6 milesThe bike course was very flat for what I expected to get in GA. The route bordered Lake Blackshear for 6 miles or so before heading up County Roads back to the park. The road winding around the lake had a lot of hair pin turns but beautiful views. Charlie had an open course with no one in sight the entire time. His blistering bike split of 32:23 for a 25.2 mph average. This was Charlie's fastest bike split to date!! For Laura and I, we started behind the entire men's field, it was hard to pass on some of those windy roads by the lake but it opened up once onto the county road. I was lucky enough to have the second fastest women's bike split of 36:47 for a 22.2 mph average. I was still in second place getting off of the bike. Leaving T2 I saw the leader and I was on a mission....
The run: 3.1 milesAugust 13 in the south, nothing more to say than........it was HOT! There were two well needed aid stations on the run. Again Charlie let his true colors shine, posting the third fasted 5k time in the race of 17:29 for a 5:38/mile average. Little did Charlie know (due to wave starts) he had someone on his tail. The second place male finished 4 seconds behind Charlie but because of the different waves there was no sprint to the finish between the two. From the first few steps into the run I knew I had to give it all I had if I wanted any shot at winning this race. I could see the women's leader ahead and found myself catching her faster than I thought. Within 1/2 mile I was on her heals. Knowing who she was from prior races and knowing my 5k PR (23:06) I thought to myself, "slow down".......but then thought....."why"??? So I went for it, I went around the leader and pushed ahead. I could see at certain turn arounds on the course that I was gaining a lead. This was the first time I chose to run without a watch or HR monitor. To say it was liberating is an understatement! I am very happy to say I had the second fastest 5k time for women and a new 5k PR of 21:41 for a 6:59/mile pace!
For the overall race results click here: http://gamultisports.com/georgiaveteransevents/files/2011/03/1_Results_Overall.htm
Congratulations to all finishers!!
My marathon training update (Base 1 - complete):
Week 1: 28 miles
Week 2: 37 miles
Week 3: 41 miles
Week 4: 44 miles
Week 5: 24 miles - recovery and race week
I have made it through the first part of my marathon training plan. Last weekend at GVT I had my first test since I started run training. I was nervous for the Triathlon simply because I had shifted my training focus and was only riding once per week but I was looking forward to the run. This race couldn't have gone better and I came out with a new 5k PR and a boost of confidence for my run training.
Over the past month I have put in more running miles than I ever have even when I was was preparing for Ironman. The groups and training partners have made the time and miles go by with ease. Thank you to Chuck Davis and his weekly group sessions. I have joining his group at Leon track on Tuesday afternoons for intervals and running Wednesday mornings with his group at Betton hills. On the weekend I have joined in with the Imitation Adults for varying distances, I've gone on a jaunt through the woods with Brian Corbin and even had the pleasure of being escorted by a 2 year old lab in Grady County.
I have enjoyed every step of this training and can't wait to add more on.
Woot! Nice work Sandy!
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