FINISHED...


Yesterday, I completed the longest event I have competed in - the Atomic Man Half Ironman. My lovely wife and best friend & his wife were all there to see me in probably the most pain I have ever been in. I finished in 7 hours - my personal goal was 6 - but at the end of the day I was looking for the big finish and I got it.

Swim
The swim wasn't that bad. I obviously should have tested the wetsuit out before I used it in a critical event, but it definatley helped more than hurt. I did get a massive headache from my goggles, but that's ok, this is the first triathlon I have competed in where they didn't leak!

Lesson Learned: Do an all out test (even that nasty swim cap) with all your gear at least twice

Bike
Bike was fun. The rolling hills didn't provide any monotony which I was a big beneficiary of. Everyone competing had awesome bikes which kept me entertaining myself wondering how much each bike costs.

Lesson Learned: I need to be riding with the fast group here in Chattanooga - as they all had awesome times.

Run
DEATH - the first 6.5 miles were tough steep hills. The last 6.5 miles were long-straight and had no shade. There was a brief interuption on mile 10-12 where it was a trail next to the river which was awesome.

Lesson Learned: Do at least a couple hard-core BRICK workouts and even suck it up and run in the sun in the afternoon. I know I would have trimmed at least 30 min. off my time if I was acclamated to to running in the sun - and not the nice shade that my 5:00 a.m. training runs provided me with.


Summary
Great race. Organization with the officials was a little scarce but I was fully expecting this from the web-site and how many people competed in it, so no worries. The volunteer support by the boy scouts was awesome. Special Note: I am a proud Eagle Scout and even got a couple of "hooh-rahs" when I told them at the aid-stations.

Hopefully I can post some pictures up tommorow.