this was my first co-ed swim. the men were much rougher than the all female wave in my first race. lots of shoving. several men were doing the breast stroke, so i had to pass them in order to not get kicked. overall, the swim was - fast. over before i knew it.

still need to work on my TI form in race conditions. it all falls apart when i'm trying to go fast. this time i was better about leaving an arm extended at all time, mainly to protect my head. this may have also allowed me to go faster.

don't have my time yet, but this seemed to go more smoothly. i was less flustered, probably because i've practiced or done transitions several times now.

the bike also felt like it went very quickly. passed a very fit looking guy in a tri-suit riding a litespeed! almost wanted to turn and say 'come on now - i'm a chubby mom on a '82 miyata! pick up the pace, boy!', but i didn't. he passed me up a bit later, but was in site the rest of the ride.

i need a new bike. i have sentimental attachments to the miyata - it is my dad's bike, he did his one and only tri on it, i did my first tri on it. that said, i think i would be faster and safer one something newer. shifting and braking are both iffy.

this went quickly, but i happily wasted a few seconds running to the sidelines to give me 3 year old a kiss. she thought i was done with my race when i got in for T2, and was upset when i started to take off again.

decided at the last minute to do another clif shot, just in case. not sure if i needed it, since it made my tummy gurgle a bit. either way, i think i need to have one stuffed in my shoe just in case i decide i need one - this time i had to dig in my tri bag to get it.

i was happy just to run the whole way. i have walked at least part of EVERY race i've done this year (5k, 8k, first sprint tri). even though this run was longer than my last tri (4 miles versus 2.5), i was able to run the whole time. i think backing off on the last part of the bike, and also having the heart rate monitor on, both helped me stick with a slow but steady pace on the run.

if i had known there was only one water station, i would have brought my running belt w/ water. i also might have skipped the clif shot i did in T2.

kissed my girls & bill, stretched, drank some emergen-c sport drink, changed clothes, had an apple. we went to the awards ceremony/luau thing. afterwards, we tried to go to dq, CLOSED, and then izzy's, also CLOSED (what, doesn't anyone eat ice cream at 10:30 in the morning?), so ended up at whole foods market to get some celebratory post-race ice cream!


lack of sleep and slow running speed. lack of sleep was hard to avoid, since i was nervous. did what i could that helped last time, but i was still up a lot. slow running speed - a constant battle, and am slowly improving over time.


seemed like there was some last minute confusing (in water start or running start?). also, not enough water stations on the running course. post-race event was a cool idea (luau), but even my toddler was disappointed 'there should be music and dancing!'.