I think this was a very good swim for me even if I did end up doing my usual breastroke and freestyle combination. No wetsuit.

I went to a swim clinic earlier this year and tried to do some of the things they mentioned. I placed myself at the front of the pack. Kicked my feet out behind me to make room while waiting for the start. I swam hard for the first 4 minutes or so to distance myself from the 'washing machine". I think this worked! My age group had two waves and I saw about 4-5 swimmers pull away fast in my wave. There was no way I was going to keep up with them During the swim I was passed by only one other in my age group. Sighting was good. Did a bit of drafting. All in all a good swim for me. I was quite pleased.

Not much. I may even start swimming breastroke during training sessions to make this a faster stroke. I seem to do ok combining the two. I'd have to knock 2-3 minutes off this distance to catch the fastest swimmers and that's not going to happen given the swim time I can put in.

I have to change my clips. Had a hard time getting clipped on the left side.

New clips

The road was wet from the morning drizzle. This made me a bit tentative on turns and the downhills. But overall this was a strong ride for me I think. I worked the hills pretty good. I got passed by only 2-3 in my AG. And I managed to stay with them the rest of the course. Never ever saw the ones who exited the water ahead of me.

Not much.

Missed my transition area by a bit. I was focused on one of the women who was in front of me. For some reason I thought she was right next to me but she wasn't. So I had to look around a bit.

Remember where I racked the bike.

This was a pretty good run. I had to walk some of the hills. I didn't have the drive to just suck it up and keep running or try to run faster. I followed another woman in my AG for quite a while but just couldn't keep up with her. The path (pavement type) was a bit slick from the rain and I could feel my feet slipping just a bit on many steps. I find this a bit unnerving and could see myself slipping and throwing a knee out of something.

Have to want to feel the pain....

Just stopped.


I think to perform faster I just have to put in high quality focused training time as opposed to what I do now. My bike training is my commute pretty much. And I am a bit apprehensive about making my commute not enjoyable or shifting the purpose of the commute. Maybe I need to do this just once a week one way in to speed up a bit.

To improve my swim, I need to get in the pool more often for longer --- probably not going to happen.

Focused consistent run training is in order. This might be possible if I plan ahead a bit.

And of course there is that 5 pounds that are making the body have to work harder than it could....


I love this race. The organization is great. All the women athletes are wonderful to be around. My daughters like to do this with me. I am so proud of them. They trained hard, put in a really good effort, and had a great time. Positive vibes all around. There are athletes of all capabilities there. The fast are really fast and they come from all age groups --- which is a terrific thing. I think it is especially neat for the younger age groups to see how fit, healthy, and fast they can be as they age.