A Karmatic Experience

A Cohutta Springs Triathlon Race Report

It was AMAZING to watch. Shortly after writing my post about Redemption and reading your wonderful comments, the wheels began to turn. All of the obstacles and road blocks standing in the way of another triathlon began to peel away like the layers of an onion, until finally, there was nothing between me and one last race of the season.

I am a firm believer in karma, Grace of God, call it what you will. If you live a good life, give of yourself what you can, everything will be returned to you ten fold. I have been given many wonderful opportunities in my life, not all of which I feel I have deserved, but I learned a long time ago not to ask questions and take nothing for granted. When the opportunity for another tri came around, I seized the day.

Having enjoyed my previous triathlon so much, I stopped at Sports Authority to pick up some smoke colored goggles and more nose plugs. I wanted to try something new this race day. Would not having water run down my nose on the swim help? It certainly wouldn't hurt!

I ended up working at the restaurant Friday night, but I got out of there at a decent hour. It was SO hard not to drink any beer, but I made it. Then, Saturday night, my daughter was celebrating her birthday. We made it to her birthday celebration around 10 PM. Being in a club without drinking was a new experience for me, and I had a horrible time, but again, I survived without a drop of alcohol.

Sunday morning I got to sleep in until 8 AM! So sweet!! The race was scheduled to go off at 12:30 PM, which was both a blessing and a bane. I made myself coffee and breakfast, loaded up the car, and kissed Dee Dee good bye. This was going to be the first race in a long time that I didn't have my sweety with me. That was a mixed blessing as well. The race site was Cohutta Springs, near Crandall, GA. It is in North Central/West Georgia, on the other side of the mountains from Hiawassee. It was beautiful drive up. I arrived at the race site about 15 minutes after registration opened (10:45 AM). I got registered, marked up, and setup my transition area. I scored an end spot about half way down the transition area.

At 11:30 AM, I went out for a fifteen minute warm up jog, then I went back to transition to prepare myself for the swim. Some kids next to me were discussing my SwimSafe belt, and I explained it to them and the reasons that I wore it. At 11:45, we had our pre-race meeting. It was already starting to get hot. The meeting lasted about fifteen minutes. I then headed down to the lake for my warm up swim.

Cohutta Springs is just that, a spring fed lake. They say over a million gallons of fresh water is pumped into the lake every day. I thought it was cold. They said it was eighty degrees, but it felt colder than Lake Lanier did at Two Bridges. I swam around for a minute or two to get warmed up, then I headed out on the course. I took my time, got used to the nose plugs, and tried real hard to get a feel for the water. At about the half way point, I turned around and headed home. For the last hundred yards or so, I sprinted all out and climbed from the lake feeling satisfied.

At this point, there was nothing to do but stand around and wait for the start. Evidently, they had some issues with registration. The race was delayed fifteen minutes. After what seemed like an eternity, the kayaks and canoes hit the water. The race director gathered the athletes into their waves. With a crack, the gun went off and the first wave entered the water.

The race director called the second wave to the water. The timing mat beeped incessantly as we crossed, activating our chips. Three minutes after the first wave, the race director fired the starting gun again, and we were off. I waited 5-10 seconds after my wave start to begin swimming. The entire reason I was here was to beat this half mile swim, and I wanted to do it right. I started out on the right side of the pack, along the lake shore. I never did figure out how deep the water was there. The lake was a half mile long and maybe a quarter of a mile wide. I found myself swimming with triathletes and buoys on my left, and canoes and shoreline on my right. I intentionally swam to the outside to avoid the other swimmers.

On the way out to the turn around, I did have to pass a few people. I tried drafting, but evidently I suck at it. I eventually gave up and just went around them. I was into a grove pretty quickly. When I reached the turn around, I was able to move to the inside and pass close by the buoys. On the way back, the course really opened up and I found plenty of open water to swim in. Several times, I had to remind myself that I still had a long ways to go. Half a mile is a long ways! (Gmaps reports the distance as .6 miles!). Once on the way back, I actually split the middle of two swimmers. That was fun! I luv doing new stuff! As I came to within the final 200 yards of shore, I kicked it in. I began actually kicking and increased my stroke count. I passed three swimmers in my age group before hitting the shore in 16:35, eigth in my age group. I had had a great swim, and I was pleased.

The timing mat beeped at me again as I came out of the water. I ran up the boat ramp then down the grass for about 100 yards before getting into transition. I fully realized that I hadn't been training for this, so I wasn't really concerned about my transition times, or the bike and the run. I quickly changed into my bike gear, slipped on my Garmin, and headed out of transition in 3:39. Not too bad, I thought, for not really trying.

The bike course was eighteen miles long, and consisted of rolling hills in the Georgia countryside. It seemed to me that the ride out had a lot of downhill to it. The riders were rewarded with a beautiful view of the mountains. It was awesome. Even if it was a bit hot, the day was spectacular. I didn't do all that great on the bike. I averaged like 21 MPH to the turn around, and I was getting passed by a lot of people. It was kind a disheartening to get passed by so many people, but some of them were relays, and most of them were a lot younger than i was. On the way back, I realized that a lot of the downhills I was enjoying were actually false flats, and I was really burning my fuel hard. I practically ran out of gas on the little up hill before the finish, but I still manged to come in under an hour, 57:15, for a 19 MPH average and 14th in my age group.

Again, I took my time in T2. I drank half a bottle of what had become some very hot Accelerade, and left transition in 2:21 seconds. I stopped at the water table on the way out of transition and picked up two cups of water. I drank them both. By now, the heat was starting to get really bad.

The run was just brutal. We ran along the same road as the bike route. We had runners going out and bike's coming in. At about the mile mark, they diverged. The sun was just beating down on the asphalt and our heads relentlessly. On the way out of the resort entrance, I unzipped my tri shirt. At about the half way mark, I took it off entirely. The run was a two mile out and back. The first 1.8 miles was all up hill, and some of it pretty steep. I started out doing a Run 3/ Walk 1 thing, but that eventually broke down into a walk whenever I felt like it routine. I think I managed like an 11 minute pace for the first 1.8 miles. Then, just to make it worse, the final 0.2 miles was downhill to the aid station and the turn around. That of course, meant we had to go back up hilll for the first 0.2 miles after the turn around. I got some Gatorade and ate a Hammergel at the turn around. After cresting the hill, it was all downhill from there. Shortly before the crest of hill, a 45 year old woman stopped beside and said she "couldn't take it anymore". She wanted to quit. I spent a few minutes pumping her up! Telling her how good she was doing and brutal the out portion of the run was. The rest of the run was going to be like buttah. She smiled, thanked me, and took off running. Evidently, I helped, cause she finished before I did! LOL...

The run back was uneventful. I managed to get back into my Run 3/Walk 1 routine. As I ran back into the resort, I put my shirt back on. No bare chested running pics for Wes :-) As I passed transition, I picked up speed and headed down the chute. The finish was lined with friends and family of all the college students doing the race, but no Dee Dee :-( Everything was quiet until I raised my arms in triumph, and the crowds cheered! I cross the line in 2:01:02, with a run time of 41:15, a 10:19 average pace.

For anyone who lives close by, I highly recommend this triathlon. The area it is in is just beautiful, and I'm pretty sure that it isn't always that hot there. I think, next year, I will be better prepared for the run. The race was well organized, and there were just ton's of college kids who volunteered for the event. Everything went so smooth. I can't speak highly enough about it!

I am so VERY GLAD that I had the opportunity to be blessed and end my triathlon season on a positive note. It would not have been possible without the loving support of Dee Dee and my family. My most important goal of this race, have a good swim, was accomplished, and I am very thankful for that. Now, I can focus solely on the up coming marathon with all my strength and convinction.

In looking back, its been a great triathlon season. It's been a great learning experience for me, and that is part of what makes this process so exciting. I know what I need to do to get better and be prepared for next season. The swim will always be a challenge for me. I have not yet reached anything near my full potential there. I have some serious strengthening to do on the bike. I have lots to improve on the run as well, but marathon season is going to help out a lot there.

I am deeply grateful and humbled by these opportunities that life has given to me. Looking forward to a great running season and next year too :-)

Wes

OSN: 0.5 miles, 16:35, ~2:00 100 meters
T1: 3:39
OCN: 18 miles, 57:15, 18.9 mph
T2: 2:21
ORN: 4 miles, 41:15, 10:19 mmp