Was surprised that the race was held after the deluge the night before. Singletrack was sloppy so the bike portion was cut down to 1 lap instead of 2. Run portion was dry in the the cross-country section but puddly in the singletrack.
I had my characteristic slow run start and the lead pack quickly left me on the gravel road heading in to Rusty Bucket. Picked up some speed after coming out of the tight and twisty Rusty Bucket trail. Felt strong back to the first transition. Quick transition to bike after 30 seconds or so. Practice had paid off.
On to the bike leg and feeling good. Only doing 1 lap was a disadvantage for me since my endurance is better than my speed. About a quarter mile from in to the bike leg noticed my rear wheel was loose. This on top of severely muddy trails made me dial it back some but at least the wheel never came all the way out. Another bike lap would've been miserable. Good sportsmanship on the trails.
Back to the transition for 2nd run where my rear wheel finally fell off. Quick transition to run gear and off to finish 2nd run. Felt a little heavy heading out. There was a guy who looked to be in my age group in front of me so my goal was to chase him down. He led me on Rusty Bucket then I finally overtook him in the cross-country section. (Turns out he was not in my age group but it was nice to have someone to chase late in the race.)
I had a great race and really couldn't have done much better.
Total time was 1:22
First of all, huge thanks to my wife Renee for getting up with me at 4am to get ready for the race and providing pit crew and moral support! Went into my 3rd triathlon in Blue Ridge, GA pretty confident after spending this year ramping up my swim at the Aquatic Center and Open Water Swims at Lake Allatoona. Swimming being my main limiter and biking and running, my strengths. I never realized just how much technique is involved with swimming and it's been a challenge to get faster in the water and to also become comfortable in open water. For this race, I knew I would have no problem with the Sprint distance: 600 yard swim, 18 mile bike, 3.2 mile run. No I don't have an expensive Tri bike with aero wheels, aero bars or aero helmet. In fact, you'd laugh at how much my race bike costs. Hey, I figure I'll build my body up first before diving in fully with the expensive gear. Rested 3 days prior and was battling a groin/adductor pull. Hurts like crazy unless legs a