I had a few trepidations when I learned it was to be a mass start of all Oly men and women together, but that turned out to be only 19F and 46M so it wasn't bad. I was surprised the race was so small--only 200 participants in all events--since the city is pretty big. After the starting melee, I got a nice long ride drafting a swimmer for more than half of the first loop; but then I allowed myself to fall back on the last side because I thought my effort to keep up might be unsustainably hard.
Between loops we had to run out of the water & back in.
On the second loop I was mostly on my own but did catch another short ride in the second part. I was at times wandering a little bit, but I sighted better & swam straighter than in previous races; the calm water helped with that. I was confident in the water & am happy with my time, so it was a good swim for me. My time was 14th out of the 19 women, all of them at least 10 years younger than me, and most of them way way younger.

Looking at the little bit of HR data, I think that I could have stuck with the guy I was drafting without going anaerobic.

Very fast, and 2nd among all women of all ages.
All smooth. Downed my gel/water mix from my little flask.

Nothing

The roads weren't bad, but there were a lot of manhole covers. I made the mistake of running right over one which jolted me so hard some of my fuel bounced out of my bento box. I was worried it would flat me but it was my lucky day I guess; from then on I was careful to ride around the manholes
I was riding with a power meter & defined targets. My target for the 1st loop was 80-83% ftp, for the second loop 85% ftp. My actual averages were 82% for the 1st loop and 84% for the second loop. That wasn't too bad, considering that even on a pretty flat course it was hard to keep the power just where I wanted it and there was a lot of moment-to-moment variability.
The averages don't include the last .6 miles, with a avg of 59%. I think most of that was pedaling with my feet on top of my shoes wondering where the heck the turnoff was. I had made a point of memorizing exactly where the dismount line was, and had seen that it was just after the turnoff from the road we were riding on into the park. But there were actually lots & lots of turnoffs & they all looked the same!
Nutrition: 5 Perpetuem Solids, 3 Endurolyte caps,1 bottle Heed and most of another bottle plain water..

I really REALLY need to make a point of memorizing not only the dismount line but also some landmarks that are out 50-100 yards. I'm unnecessarily losing time at the end.

Not only was this the fastest time among all women at the Oly distance, but tied for the fastest if the men are included. I've never done so well in T2 before, or in any transition!
My racking position was very well chosen, and helped.

Not one thing.

I had my HR targets taped to the little water bottle I carry. Although far from last, I was way behind almost everyone and was running by myself (and hoping the volunteers had sent me in the right direction!). I was running by HR, and after the first 3k trying to push myself harder to achieve my targets.
Those 1st 3k were not too uncomfortable building from high z2 to low z3, except that I had something in my shoe which went from being annoying to feeling like it would rip up my skin. I finally stopped around mile 2 to take my shoe off & found an earplug inside! (Good thing my shoes are easy on/off) I thought it must have bounced in there after ther swim, but later found that it was an extra one, in there all along
The 2nd 3k I was pushing myself to bump the HR up and it wasn't so easy now; but I did finally accomplish it. In the 3rd 3k I was having a hard time going beyond that to try to achieve that throw-uppy feeling that tells me I'm well up into z 4. My glutes were whining & I was arguing back that their fatigue meant only that they were at 60% of capacity. I was all set to snap into the big push for the final km and surprise! there was no final km, only the finish line. I did sprint to it, but missed out on half killing myself. Darn. The course it seems was about half a mile short.
Nutrition: 1 gel/water from my little flask about halfway.

Check my shoes beforehand to make sure there's nothing inside!
Also, I guess I can't rely on the published race distance. I need to incorporate in my warm-up a walk or jog on the last part of the run route to identify some landmarks for my final push.

Walked to my car to get my recovery drink; then to the shaded pavilion to eat some pizza & cookies and wait for my award.


I keep improving with my training & with each race experience, so I'll just need more of the same.


I really liked this race & would do it again. It's flat & fast, and the Inner Harbor is clean & generally quite calm. I like the urban locale, with the old grain elevators as a backdrop. The Race Director & his crew (which seemed to include a lot of family) were very friendly & personable.
My own race was a huge personal best in all disciplines, including transitions. The fact that they were so even in relation to other women (14th in swim, 13th in bike, 12th in run), tells me that my swimming is improving greatly over last year, and that my pacing was good.