The run starts on a hill, and I immediately started breathing heavy. Normally I pace myself well, and I was not happy to be struggling a minute into the run. Eventually I settled into a good pace and felt strong.

Warm up a little more.

The splits weren't timed, so I'm not sure how much time I hung out in transition. Seemed okay, though.

The bike wasn't so pretty. The course was three loops of of the park, and on the first loop, I found myself PUSHING the bike up not one, but TWO hills. I was blaming my poor performance on my handling skills, but I realized I was breathing really hard the entire loop, and my heart was racing. Not looking good.

On the second loop, my chain jumps and gets jammed in where the pedals meet the bike. I pull it off the trail and attempt to fix it, but have some difficulty. . . so a lot goes through my head, such, wow, I can't get the chain out . . .this will be my first DNF. Should I DNF? I could run the bike instead . . . I don't want to do that, it would take forever. . . keep working on it . . . there are only a few ladies here, if you fix it and move on, you'll probably still come in third in your AG, which puts you in for the draw of a free wetsuit . . . . and a medal . . . you want a medal, don't you?? . . . .

So probably five to ten minutes or so later, I yank the chain out. And am off. Still breathing way too heaving for the race, though. I feel like I train too hard to be this out a shape.

Ride a well maintained bike and practice mountain biking handling skills. Check to make sure I put my front tire on properly.

Again, decent transition. Wish I knew how much time I spent here.

Remember how I hung my bike on the rack, so I don't struggle with it on my return.

The second loop was harder than I expected for race that I didn't think would last over an hour. I started wheezing heavily on the last stretch. I eventually caught up to the girl who I had been competing with the whole race (who also had mechanical issues on the trail), but not enough to beat her across the line. At least she wasn't in my AG.

Bring an inhaler.

The race had mechanics willing to help out on site, so I brought my bike over to see if one can help me eliminate any future 'chain suck' problems. He said that was really a skills issue, but, uh, do you know that you don't have a lot a gears? This I knew. Well, I knew I had a problem downshifting, but I didn't realize how many gears I couldn't get into. This may help explain not making it up the hills (but not fully). I apparently need a new shifter, and oh, a rear tire brake. And then the mechanic discovered that I didn't really put my front tire on. Huh. Probably should have checked that. Now I'm just thankful I didn't kill myself.

I then learn that not only did I place in my AG, I actually came in first. Ok, fine, there were just two of us in the AG, but it still fun to get the medal and prize--in this case, it was a canister of Heed. I like Heed, I think it tastes like crushed up smarties.