Toyota Challenge at Deer Creek - Olympic - TriathlonOlympic

This was my first race in my wetsuit. Amazing. Kick? Do I need to kick? I felt like a seal, all sleek and smooth and one with the water. I was a daughter of Poseidon for this race. Which is good because my shoulder still hurts a bit from the crash 6 weeks ago and I really haven't been swimming at all.

I ditched my stuff, made a comment about feeling like a stuffed sausage- which made some spectators LOL, and grabbed my bike.

I was pleased with what I was able to accomplish. I got up to speed fast and kept it up. The wind was very hard to fight- the rd that Margo and I road the day before at 22 was a push at 18mph race day. The second lap was worse with the wind.

I had an epic flaw on the second lap right before the first uphill. So there I was in aero speeding down the first hill. I had just gotten to the point where I could start pedaling again when WHAM! A bee flew into my head, getting trapped between my ear and bike helmet strap. I went to flick it out and caught my glasses instead. So I expected a CRUNCH and there goes my $30.00 glasses. No crunch. No pedal either. I look down and my glasses have wedged themselves between my pedal and the front ring. Now anyone who knows me knows that I can't pedal and drink...I can barely reach down for my water bottle without falling over. So reaching down trying to grab my glasses before the hill that I normally go 8mph up is a challenge. Needless to say I got my glasses back on my face and loosing all my momentum that was 4mph up that hill. Oh well.

I need to get lighter and stronger. I hadn't really biked since the end of Aug and the Pelotonia 104 miler so I know I lost quite a bit of fitness during that time.

Meah. Due to the size of my bike I can't leave my shoes clipped- they would interfere with the rolling of the tires! Maybe some day I will figure out something different but for now, I stop, unclip, dismount and run to my rack.

Not get that final sip of water- duah there is a water stop right outside of T2.

This was the first time I have run with my watch and keeping track of my miles. I was keeping it to 10 min mile pace and walking the water stops. That's how I trained for the 1/2 merry and since that race is only 3 weeks away I wanted to stick to the plan. Unfortunately HFP didn't mark each mile so I had a bit of trouble pacing. I did have a klingon who ran with me for 1/2 of the course. Not so bad, made me LOL and we chatted a bit. Yeah, I chatted it up during a race. What else was I suppose to do without my ipod?

Maybe not talk? Meah.

I cry after every race. The big fat tears just kinda fall. It's a relief to finish. Its a joy to be able to do what I am doing.


I should of trained more but life got in the way.


This is a great race and perfect season closer.