One Down, Two to Go!

 The Music City Triathlon, my very first ever, went really well. I hit my target time by finishing in 1:25:12. In my age group, Men 25-29, I finished 13th out of 39 racers. The results are promising, very motivating, but leaves room for a ton of improvement. Can I finish Top 5 in my age group next year? Absolutely! The race was HOT, over 1,100 racers, and it was really well put together.

See race results here.

A couple quick notes:
- I competed in the Sprint race, which is about half the distance of what I'll face in D.C at The Nation's Tri. Daunting. I've got to work my ass off these next 7 weeks.
- My swim coach from Excel Triathletes, Ashley Whitney, won the sprint! It doesn't hurt to be an Olympic Gold Medalist. Her final time was 1:06:42. What a great coach- totally well deserved!
- Speaking of swimming... the swim wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy. The D.C swim will be almost 4x times what I did on Sunday. This area needs more attention. I've added another swim day to my workout starting this week. I'll be doing open water swimming on Tuesday mornings with a triathlon group in Percy Priest Lake.

Some race photos from my phone and The Tennessean...

Here is everything I used on Sunday. There are so many items to bring that you've got to lay it all out a day ahead and run down a checklist. (Not pictured: roller skates and diaper for post-race rave)

Transition area at 6:30

Full! Transition area 7:00, just before the race

1st of the Sprint racers lining up. (Tennessean)

Before the race I befriended some real idiots who believed my name was Bethany. They were actually very supportive. (Tennessean)

End of swim leg (Tennessean)

Richard Nixon continues to inspire triathletes. (Tennessean)

AWARDS

2nd Family Award: This award goes to the family that part-raised me. Thank you so much to The Giffens! Don and Carol came in with such a generous donation and I want give Andrew a bear-sized bro hug for telling them about what I'm doing. I spent a lot of time with the Giffens growing up and they're truly an awesome family. Thanks again!

The Alley Behind Longest Avenue Award: I didn't anticipate using the Alley Behind Longest Avenue Award, but then Smith Rhodes comes in with a sweet donation last night! I love the unexpected donations. Thank you! Smith housed my sister and me last December in New York for the Kentucky-UCONN game, which was one of the best UK games all season.

Click here to donate, ya dingus!