Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon

Written by Ken Brown

I arrived in Chattanooga early Saturday evening, feeling pretty good about my overall fitness.  My wife and I headed out for dinner after picking up my race packet and found a great Italian place in the Art District next to the river.  A few hours later, the alarm sounds and I’m headed to the race site. 

This race offers several challenges, one in terms of the topography of the bike and run course, and the other is the time trial swim start.  The advantage of this type of race start is that you really get to swim clean, without the elbows and fists of a mass start, but the disadvantage is that you really don’t have a feel for where you are or who is in front of you.

The swim is a point to point, with a slight current that certainly helps everyone.  I got into a very good rhythm on the swim immediately, and was fortunate enough to have one of my swim partners blow by me within the first 100 meters.  Knowing his strength is swimming, I jumped on his feet and tried to use his draft to my advantage.  Thanks to Keith Perkey for the pull on the swim.  Hey pulled away at around 800 meters, but by sitting in behind him I was able to conserve some energy on the swim.  I hit the timing mat at 20:59, and headed into T1.

Getting on the bike, I felt pretty confident that I could hold a good pace, while managing my effort.  The bike course is hilly, with long climbs and long descents.  The benefit of this course is that there are really no turns that slow you down, so you can find a good rhythm and just keep your foot on the gas.  I went out a little harder than I had planned, but I felt like there was a wind to our back, and that the course may have more descending on the way out.  I knew however, that coming back, I’d need to ease up a bit as I still needed to run a 10K, and wasn’t sure who was in front of me.  Coming back there was one descent where I hit 42 mph, and could feel the rear disc start to wobble.  After a quick vision of me meeting the pavement, I decided to hit the brakes and take a conservative approach to finish out the bike.  Coming into T2, I looked down and saw I had averaged a little over 24 mph.  Not bad, and I felt ready to hit the run.

The run course has one large hill at the start, in which you actually run upstairs to a walking/biking path.  I pushed the first mile pretty hard, and then started getting some cramps.  I’ve been battling this issue all year, and have started to use more salt based products before/during the race.  I just couldn’t push myself into the extra gear.  I was sitting at a 6:55 pace and just couldn’t push any faster.  Around mile 4, my quads started seizing up, and my right calf felt like it was about to pop out of my skin.  I slowed the pace for a few mins, to allow the cramps to subside.  They slowly passed, but I knew my run time was going to suffer.  I ended up crossing the line in 2:11:46, good enough for 7th overall amateur(there was an elite field at Chattanooga this year) and 2nd in the M35-39 age group.

Once again a big thank you to the All3Sports team that keeps my bike in top shape, my coach, Kevin Wessinger who knows what kind of weekly training serves me best, and of course my poor wife who acts as race photographer, gear sherpa, communications manager, and most importantly sports psychologist.  She’s truly an angel.  Thank you!

Never satisfied with my race, I am focusing on a stronger run for Age Group Nationals in Tuscaloosa this August.  I know I am close to peak condition, and am looking forward to an extremely competitive field at Nationals.