Rev3 Quassy - Half Rev - Triathlon

Started as far left as possible a few rows back from the front. Calmly walked in at the start and tried to stay relaxed and calm. On my warmup I found myself pulling left. Didn't figure out how to correct this until about 1/3rd of the way through, so I kept finding myself left of the group.
I've been working on my swimming for nearly a year now. The biggest hurdle for my is just being comfortable in the water. I thought I had made major progress until I did an open water swim a few weeks ago and just could not keep my head in the water- I would have to stop every 15, or so, strokes, reset and then continue. I did 4 open water swims last weekend to get accustomed to it and it paid off. I did stop at the first buoy to reset myself. I let myself calm down for a few seconds and then continued on. I swam very comfortable, without pushing it. Took the first turn buoy a little wide. Couldn't see because of the sun and followed the feet in front of me. Bad move since he went very wide and not on course. I corrected myself and the rest of the second leg went well. I continued to see blue caps and felt happy that I wasn't falling behind. I actually closed my eyes at one point during the second leg and concentrated real hard and peed during the swim! Coming up on the second turn buoy I said to myself I had to take it tight. This race is prep for Ironman and I need to get in the fray to get used to the crowd. I angled toward the red buoy and took it tight. There was some contact, but very little. From there I took it just a little harder for the last leg. Not pushing it, but at a steady pace.

Sight better. Since I felt so good, I could have stayed steady the whole race and not just the last leg. Better safe than sorry, though.
Hit the lap button on my Garmin when I got out of water, then when I was taking off my wetsuit hit it again by accident, so 8 steps out of the water the watch though I was already on the bike... I hit lap two more times so it would have me on the run. Thought I would just bike and run on the run setting.
I this same course two years ago in 44 minutes. This year I swam it 9:49 faster!

Took my time in transition to make sure I had sunblock on and everything in place. Ate a Gu in transition.

Had shoes clipped into pedals and planned on doing a flying mount. coming up to the mount line I chickened out and stopped and put my leg up and over and pushed off. Starting like this actually made me slower... Do it, or don't do it. Pick one and stick to it.

Love this course. It is challenging and the downhill's exhilarating. I rode the course a couple weeks ago and did the race two years ago, so I knew what I was in for. Took it all very easy. Never felt like I was pushing it and always felt good. Started with water on my downtube and Gatorade between my aerobars. Nearly finished both before the first aide station, drank nearly the whole second bottle of Gatorade before the second aide station, replaced that bottle at aide station 2 and took a water and poured it on my head and back to cool off, replaced the Gatorade at aide station 3 and took water to pour over my head and back there also. Ate two Gu's and 1 powerbar on the bike and peed (oh, yeah) at mile 23 and 46.
Did all long hills in my Granny gear, sitting up on the steeper one's and breathing nice and deep to stay relaxed. Kept myself sane by asking for directions to Quassy or by saying that I thought this was supposed to be a hilly course or by saying that I thought they said it was gonna be hot today... Made most people smile, but some just wanted me to shut up... Took advantage of the downhills every time. Really loved pushing the speeds.

I may have been a bit too conservative in the last 5 miles or so wanting to make sure my legs would be ok for the run. But overall, pretty happy with the bike.
I was 9:11 slower this year than two years ago. I anticipated this because I have not really been biking until recently, but with the heat I thought I would have been further back and I feel like I took it much easier this year and didn't push at all.

Took plenty of time to ensure I had sunscreen everywhere.

could have been a bit faster...

I came out of T2 and looked at wrist to see if I was running too quickly only to find that my Garmin was not there- I left it on the bike! Oooops! Just ran by feel trying to run well within control. The first section is down hill and I found someone to talk to here for a little bit. Made the right hand turn toward the dirt road from hell and told the person running with me that I will stop talking until I crest the hill. I dropped her and never looked back. Took the hill nice and easy, never walked and passed a handful of people on the incline. Dumped water on my head at every single aide station. Took a salt tab on the aide station on this hill. Had no idea of my pace at any point on the course. Just ran steady. Heart rate and respiration felt relaxed and easy. Near the bottom of the hill on the first out and back I started getting cramps in my lower GI area. Uh-oh, I thought. Pulled back on my pace a bit here. At the next aide station I dumped four cups of water on my head and drank only water. 10 steps out of the aide station I started feeling good again. The guy at mile 10 aide station was great. They were severely understaffed but he was happy and helpful. All the volunteers were great, as were the people who had sprinklers set up to cool us off. Very thankful to them all.
On second out and back I started to feel my heart rate rising to keep my pace. at the turnaround it was difficult to keep pushing, but there is only 2.1 miles left from there. Came up on that last hill and just kept trying to chug along. Pace slowed but I ran the whole thing. Passing a few more people here helped keep me motivated. Recovered a bit at the top of the hill as I ran toward the left hand turn to head toward Quassy. When I made the left I decided to see if I had anything left in the tank. I picked up my turnover and lengthened my stride and it felt good! Ran the last .2 mile strong and with a smile! It was nice to still feel good after 70.3 miles in the heat.
PS, I peed twice while running. This made me happy knowing that I was still processing fluids.

Remember my Garmin. Not get my feet wet while dumping water on my head.
I ran a 1:45:40 two years ago, so I was about 8:30 slower this year. With the heat and the fact that I was coming back from an injury this year I am very happy with this run. Was hoping for about an 8:30/mile pace and ran it at 8:38/mile by feel.

A well run race overall but not as good as two years ago. The swag has gone downhill and there could have been more and better volunteers at the water stations on the run. I was planning on walking the aide stations, but if you wanted to run through you would have had a difficult time getting what you needed, not enough seats/ shade at finish line, no massage or ART at finish line. This is still a great race however, especially if you have a family that would enjoy the park while you race. I like the challenge of the course and will most likely do it again.