I went out easy. It felt good. I had to pee, so I decided I'd try "going" in my wetsuit -- only I couldn't... so I had to "pull over" behind a buoy and "go"... and go and go and go. I swear I missed at least a minute just bobbing there.

I felt strong and was excited and happy to be swimming. I wasn't pushing hard, but I was keeping a good, regular pace.

Pee during the warm up. =)

I was able to get my wetsuit off faily easily, which surprised me. I decided to take my time with this race and not stress over "go go go". I didn't go at a leasurely pace, but I didn't go "balls to the wall" either.

I was forced to use my mountain bike pedals, so I had to take the time to put on my socks and running shoes.

Note to self: none of the yellow piss-water Gatorade before the race. Ever. Bad bad bad. On the way out, I had, shall we say, "stomach issues". So bad that it took all my concentration to get to the turn around where the port-o-let was. I spent 5 minutes in there just waiting to throw up or whatever. Miserable.

I had one gel after Lynch Hill. And another about 20 minutes later. I carried my CamelBack with Karen-ade, and I drank some, until my "stomach" issue presented itself... then I backed off some.

After the turnaround, I got back on my bike and did OK... I forced myself to drink more because I knew that I would need it on the run.

I was surprised at how fast my bike goes down hill! I was screaming past other riders who were working going down hill. And I didn't have aerobars.

Going uphill was a bit harder. =) Ok, a lot harder. Fortunately, a friend was able to loan me a set of gears that were a little better than mine, so I didn't have to work quite as hard. I managed to get up Lynch without walking or stopping. And the rest of the hills weren't too bad.

Going down Lynch was a blast! Except when I got stuck behind a slower rider who was trying to pass the runners. Darn runners were running 4 abreast! And they're very strict about cyclists not crossing the yellow line. On the down hill, I got to the point where I was just screaming "BIKE LEFT! BIKE LEFT! BIKE LEFT!"

Clipless pedals, aerobars, better gears, new saddle, better nutrition... and some hill training.

Well, I already had my running shoes on, so all I had to do was rack my bike, take off my helmet, grab my race belt and hat.

I felt strong. At this point, I didn't feel tired at all. I was jazzed about running and took off strong.

Oy! I felt strong heading out, but I never got my legs under me. I wound up walking around mile 1 and then just alternated walking and running the rest of the way.

I ran down Lynch, of course, but I didn't blow out or hurt at all. I was able to "sprint" in the finish chute.

More training at maintaining that level of activity for such a long time.

Walked around the finishers area and then headed to the expo to get some food.


Training. This was my first Oly so I didn't have any expectations.


I'll be back again next year. And I'll have more training under my race belt!

I should also note that I did not have a bike computer on my new bike. And before the race, I forgot my HR strap at the RV. So I had to do the entire race based on pace and PLE. Not bad. I think that may have actually helped me not stress out. That way, I could just race my own race rather than aim for a specific HR or time or cadence, etc.