Monday, June 15, 2009

Buster Britton

My first ever triathlon is in the books and it was awesome. The race was not only great for me but for the whole crew from the JCC. The morning began early for me, I got to Oak Mtn a little before 6am. I quickly set up my transition area and got my body marked. I ended up having plenty of time to relax, which was good since I always have a fear of being late for races. There were a few problems with the swim, first lightning delayed us about 20 minutes, and second; one of the bouyies kept drifting so the swim was shortened by about 100 yards. Once I got in the water I felt pretty good, and surprisingly I was passing people. It was midway through the swim that the bottom dropped out and the rain came. When I got out of the water I felt good, I ran up the beach to the transition area to get my bike. I tried an advanced trick where you rubber band you shoes on the the bike, it is supposed to make your transition quicker. I should have practiced because as soon as I jumped on the bike I crashed. The good news is my recovery was fast and my second attempt went very smooth. The bike course was pretty hilly but I was feeling good. My number was 296, pretty high, so I found myself passing a lot of people. That is a huge confidence builder. Only one guy passed me on the bike and he was a guy who I passed in the first two miles, he ended up finishing about 15 seconds ahead of me. I got a little lost when I got back to the transition area and I ended up going to the wrong rack. Once I got squared away it was out to run 3 miles. My legs were really feeling it at this point, and to make it worse the run started uphill. This was the part of the race where I started getting passed. I was in a bad place, I was happy with things so far and I knew I was well under my target time so I probably didn't push as hard as I should have. The rain and no socks were starting to take a toll on my feet, had the run been longer I would have been in trouble. Once I hit the turn around I turned it up a bit. Something about seeing a 12 year old in front of you makes you push hard. I caught the kid and as sad as that was it made me feel good. I finished strong with a 1:10:45 good enough for 7th out of 46 in my age group. As I mentioned it was a great showing for all my friends from the JCC. Colin Soniat took first in his age group, John Gregg finished second in his age group, William Belser took third in his age, Neily Krebs finished third in her age in only her first ever triathlon. Also running her first triathlon Ruth Douglas stormed in just under 1:20:00, and Casey Coleman finished 7th in her age. And I cannot forget the Power Spouses Relay Team, Katie Gregg, Betsy Belser, and Julie Elmer dominated the field to take the relay title. A great race by all and a lot of fun. Next for me Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon in July, I'm excited!

1 comment:

  1. Yeah!!! Chattanooga is a blast! Congrats on such a great race.

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