Same problem as last year- water hardly deep enough to swim at the start of the course- it was an aquajog to the first buoy turnaround. I was able to swim most of the course after that but it was still shallow enough that the whole thing could've been walked. Whatever, the water was calm and I was really comfortable with my stroke the whole time. Navigating was annoying b/c of the sun, and b/c the course didn't make much sense. Anyway, I improved my time from SheRox by a few minutes, could be because of the walking but who knows.

Had to pee. It's like my bladder doesn't tell me this until I'm up and out of the water. So I ran to T1, yanked off the suit (which was fine until it got stuck on the clunky timing chip), put on socks/shoes, ran to the potties. Ran back for helmet, bike, glasses. I was still faster than my last T1, which did not involve a potty break!

Not have to pee.

Like a rockstar I managed to drop my water bottle during the first 5 minutes. Awesome. I asked a marshal if I could pick it up (since I was like the only one out there) and he said someone grabbed it... and I rode past a nice police officer who handed it to me. Life saver since that was the only fluid I had on my bike and it was hot and sunny. (I hate that bottle b/c it's a hard plastic nalgene that tends to slip when putting it in the cage instead of smooshing in.. whatever.)

I thought I'd be faster w/ the slick tires but I guess I'm not. I'm going to blame the bike. I just couldn't get comfortable with my gears and cadence, maybe I should've played around with them more. My positioning also doesn't feel very effective for a good stroke- I'm on a mountain bike that's probably ill fitting so I never really got into a "groove". Shoulders ached, blah blah blah. I need to start riding more so I can justify spending the money on a road bike that fits me. I just don't feel like I'm able to push as hard as I know I can...

From an organization stand point: I know I was one of the last people out there but they need to do a better job of keeping the party crashers off the course. Two pedestrians sauntered right in front of me, and there were two women casually riding their bikes up the course the wrong way... just annoying.

Get a different bike. Find a better gear.

Really easy when I'm not changing shoes! Better than last time, so that's nice.

I clearly need to run more because my times just keep getting slower and slower. It was warm out and I got a stitch right off the bat, so I just took it super slow. I only walked a few feet to see if that would get the stitch to go away but it didn't so I just kept jogging. Lots of the path was shaded by trees, so that was nice. I carried my own water and got it filled at the aid stations, which also helped. I also started getting a weird pain in my left sole, near the instep. That was new.

More brick workouts!

Gatorade and ice bags. Talked with fellow Team to End Aids racers as we cooled off. Some stretching, nothing too extensive. Changed clothes and got some food, then volunteered at the kids' race.


Being uncomfortable on the bike, not pushing hard enough. Didn't do enough run training over the past couple weeks (I've been spending most of my free time on the swim since that's my worst event.)


It was fun but not a mindblowing race. I was in the last wave so that meant I was close to last to finish so I felt like I was just by myself on the course the whole time. I can't wait for the Bang's Lake women's sprint- I really enjoy biking on terrain that necessitates changing gears and provides more of a mental challenge.