Wasn't as cold as I expected to be. I think that getting into the water ahead of time really helped with that. I was happy with my navigation considering my lack of experience in open water swims and the number of turns to negotiate. I could really feel that my swimming fitness had diminished as I found myself out of breath and doing backstroke a couple of times (the breathing was surely exacerbated by the temperature, but still need to work on the fitness).

The pool at my gym had been closed for the six weeks preceeding the race, and my schedule only allowed me to get in the water ONCE before the race. I was half tempted to jump in Lake Michigan just to get back in the water! I need to improve my swimming anyhow. I was happy with my time and performance, though, especially considering my limited swimming prior to the race.

I tried drafting a few times, but had a hard time staying on anybody's feet. Murky water didn't help much with that.

Train more consitently. Have a contingency plan for if my primary pool is unavailable. Improve swim fitness/form/bilateral breathing/DRAFTING/everything. :)

The gravel in T1 stuck to my feet, so I had to brush them off before I got into my bike shoes. I hadn't Body Glided my wrists and the wetsuit stuck there a bit, which I wasn't expecting. I need to figure out my hair. It was a gnarly mess when I pulled my cap off, so I had to re-ponytail before the helmet went on. Mounting and up the first hill went better than I expected.

Everything else was smooth, including my setup for getting everything into the clear plastic bag. I was pleased that I didn't end up struggling with that at all.

Figure out my hair. Body Glide EVERYWHERE. Learn to start with shoes clipped into pedals.

Holy Cow! I was scared of the hills but ended up making it through. I hadn't trained on hills much at all, so it was pretty daunting. I made my goal of NOT having to walk my bike up any of them and of being in aero as much as was reasonable. Got scared on a few descents with the strong crosswinds blowing me around a bit, but it was FUN to be flying downhill that fast. The course reminded me of cycling in Ireland, but much less leisurely. As I stomped my pedals up the hill, watching others spin up past me, I realized that I may want to consider another cassette that is more hill friendly in the future.

Despite being slow as you know what, I was happy with my performance when I put it in the context of my training and experience. This was a tough course and I made it!

Train on hills more, swap out cassette to a 12-27, remember to drink more.

Fairly quick transition. The slower-downer was having to untie my plastic bag from the rack and get my stuff out. Wiping the dirt off feet before putting running socks and shoes on was also a time suck.

Perhaps learn to run without socks (trying it out in training first, of course) for sprints.

I'll admit it. I walked up the first hill. My HR was still too high from the bike, and I knew I wouldn't be going any faster running than walking. I gave my permission to walk up the hills but made myself run on any flats and downhills. I ended up running up a few of the smaller hills anyhow. I knew I was a tad dehydrated from the bike.

I walked a good portion of the first half of the run, then ran with another girl for approx the last 1.5 miles. We pushed eachother thru to the last aid station, which we both needed to walk thru to hydrate. Got running again, remembering that it was all downhill from there. Had to put on the brakes a bit going down that big first hill, but once the grade wasn't as steep, we both kicked and ran hard to the finish. I must've been hauling on the 2nd half of the run when I was with her because this has been about my normal pace for FLAT 5Ks. Very happy with my time here.

Run more, more consistently, hydrate better on the bike, practice running hills.

Water water water and an apple. Walked around to cool down and did some light stretching. Got a nice massage which helped to loosen up the lower back, IT band and legs. Got REALLY cold about 30 min after finishing and couldn't wait to get my hands on my T1 bag with my l/s shirt in it.


Inadequate training, not prepared for the hills, mentally I tend to let myself take it easy to easily - as in "you can walk up the hills, it's okay." I need to HTFU!


I thought this was a great race. It was hard, but not outside of my abilities. It pushed me a lot and was a great challenge. I know what I need to do to be better prepared for next time around, and I'm energized to go into my next sprint knowing that I'll be able to handle it no problem after dealing with Galena! :)