Litchfield Hills Olympic Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I really felt good with this swim. The start was a little rough as there was quite a bit of contact. The start had us going out diagonally from the shore toward the first two buoys so we were all squeezing into this awkward space. I smacked a few people to clear a space for myself and took a foot to the abdomen. Took a while to settle my breathing down, but eventually found a rhythm. Tried to maintain a moderate pace and stay on some other swimmers feet so I wouldn't get off course. Unfortunately, I have worked my self solidly into the middle of the pack so found myself hanging behind the front end, but ahead of the back end for most of the middle part of the swim. Eventually caught up to the slow swimmers in the previous waves and passed a few in my own wave on the way in. Was excited to see my time when i got out of the water as last time I did this race my swim was well over 40 minutes!

Nothing really, except maybe swim in a little on the long in between part of the course so as not to add yards which I may or may not have done. Was weird to encounter huge rocks just below the surface in the middle of a deep lake on the course...

Transition includes a .2 mile run up a very stony path back to transition. This is probably the toughest part of the race as its slightly up hill and requires you to put shoes on. With wetsuit still half on, it was tough to run that distance! Struggled to get the suit off in transition. Got caught behind 5 or 6 racers all headed to the mounting area. I blew around all of them and got there first! :)

Nothin'!

I smacked the first 21 miles of this bike course pretty good. Passed a lot of riders and played leap frog with a few who refused to really mean it when they passed me. One women kept passing me and then just cutting right in front of my wheel and kinda just sitting in. Totally annoying! If you're gonna pass then leave me behind, or at least clear my front wheel before you cut in! I left her behind for good on the 4 mile hill up 202. The last 2.8 miles of this ride are ball buster miles that end with one nasty-get out of your saddle or fall down - type hill. My sherpa was there screaming encouragement to help get me up and over. Its brutal, but so worth it when you turn the corner and scream down hill to the bike finish.

Nothin'! Had a awesome ride. Maybe go faster next time...

Legs felt a little rubbery getting off the bike. Had to run the bike across the grass back to transition. Was feeling a little like the run might suck. Had trouble finding my rack as the numbers were covered by people's bags and shite. Finally got the bike tucked away and from there got shoes and hat on pretty quick.

Make a better mental note about what rack I was in!

Took about a mile to get the legs feeling like they wanted to run. I tried to just ease into a solid pace. Didn't push to hard initially, but really wanted to keep the momentum up as so far had a pretty solid race going. I managed to work my way into a nice steady 9 or so minute pace and maintained that into the last mile where I may have picked it up just bit to get to the finish.

Nothin'! Ran smart and maintained a good, steady pace.

Guzzled a bottle of water and got some food.


I think my performance was pretty much as it should have been. I didn't really know how this would go as its hard to tell if you're really recovered from IM or not only 4 weeks out, but I've been feeling really good and have been able to get some good speed on both the bike and the run in the small amount of training I've done since IMLP. So, glad I signed up and went for it because it turned out pretty well!


This is a great race. The course scares a lot of people away, so you tend to get a very competitive field of racers. Its challenging and rewarding to get it done! The post race food and beer is always a plus too!

I was 3/7 in my AG, but got the second place award due to the number 1 being the first women overall. Pretty tough competition indeed!