US Women's Triathlon Series - TriathlonSprint

Despite having a hard time seeing the buoys, I felt really great on the swim. I had only a few seconds after jumping into the water to adjust the goggles before he started the race, luckily they were on ok. My kids apparently borrowed my clear goggles so I had my shaded ones making it a little harder to see than it already was. Very foggy. The lake water was so warm, much warmer than any open water I have been in so far this year. A sleeveless suit would have been nice. I think I am going to start shopping for one.

When I got out of the water, a woman told me I was among the first out, which has NEVER happened. Surprised me to see I was 4th! Wow!

Not much, it was a really good swim, I didn't find myself off course, and by being consistent and steady, I passed a whole lot of people, from my own wave as well as the waves in front of us.

The transition area was 1/4 mile from the beach, uphill, and then we had to run through the parking lot all the way around the transition area. NOT good. Very hard on the feet! But I saw that most of the bikes were still there so that was good! Unfortunately I made a very dumb mistake....put on my sunglasses and not my helmet. Luckily my teammate was standing at the next rack and yelled that to me, but that few seconds ultimately ended up costing me podium. Argh.

Focus. I did not have my head in the race, at least to begin with. I was having a really fun time with my team and hadn't thought about a race plan or anything, had no idea of the distances of any events, nor did I look ahead to see where the bike out, run out etc was. All very dumb things!

I took it a little easier on the first lap to get the lay of the land and know what the course was. There were a few hills, only a couple that required out of the saddle. Tons of cornering, so didn't get to just speed through the course the way I like to! But it was fun and fast. Got to see all of my teammates at one time or another on the ride as they were going the other way or starting the run or as I passed them or they passed me (the relay team passed me!). I passed a lot of people on the hills.

Just ride harder. I had the 7th fastest bike time of the day....the LUNAs were 3 of the top 7 bike times, pretty nice!

Got in and changed quickly but made another stupid error, tried to run out the wrong way....we had to go all the way back through the transition and around it to get out, same place that the swim in was....a very long extra run. Someone at least hollered at me after just a few steps in the wrong direction (and I was not the only one, it was not clear!)...but again, those few steps cost me podium.

Head in the game, know the ins and outs!

It was a good and challenging course, got to see a lot of LUNAs out there. Many locals were out cheering, there was a group of three guys in recliners with cowbells which was really fun. At the top of the last hill was a barber shop with a big sign that said "Heads Up Barber" which made me laugh (um, my last name is Barber). Towards the end of the 2nd lap I caught up with a teammate and ran her pace for a while...then just before the last part of the course I noticed the woman in front of us was in my AG.....so I sprinted past her.....not realizing the finish chute was about 1/4 mile away.....I tried to hold her off but she got me at the finish by .01 seconds. No kidding. Again.....off podium by the finish sprint. Argh.

Run faster throughout, kick in when it is appropriate and not too soon, don't pass my AG until she is unaware of my presence and doesn't have time to catch me!!!

Hung with the LUNAs. Took a ton of pix. We had a "lounge" set up with chairs where we'd had our booth the day before, so it was really nice to just sit around and talk for a while. We felt like pros. Especially when we were all mingling in our kits, we looked pretty cool. It was my first team race, as we didn't have one last year, and it was so much fun!


My head was not in the race at all. I am too competitive but going out not even knowing the race distance is probably not too wise!! At least I was in shape and able to come up with some good performances in all of the events. It is nice to finish in the top 10% again....I know it surprised people to see how fast I can haul this body along a course. 15 pounds to lose before the HIM then I will be unstoppable!


The race announcer went on and on and on and on.....the day prior as well as during the race. It got a bit tedious. But otherwise the race was well executed. I didn't like the transition set up, though, too much running was added on that was not necessary when the transitions were already so far from the water etc.

It was a great day with my teammates!!! And overall I am pleased that I performed so well and finished top 12.