There was no way this swim was the length they said- I am NOT that fast. I didn't freak out like last time, but there was a lot more jostling, even though there were only like 50 girls. All the women started at the same time, and I started on the side, but ended up being a bit faster than some of the girls, so I had to do my share of punching and kicking. Eventually it cleared up, but I was almost swam over a few times. I had some really bad burps that weren't coming up at the start of the race that forced me to do the breast stroke once to get it out. That's never happened to me before, I don't know why- maybe I was hpyerventilating? Weird. Once I got over it, I got into my groove. I still didn't feel like I was swimming at my best, but no one really passed me, and I finished strong. I love swimming in the lake!! (rank is with the guys too)

Get faster, somehow, and find a better place to start! I had tried to start on the outside, but apparently so did a bunch of other aggressive girls that weren't even that fast. A wetsuit may help me get faster, but I think I only want a sleeveless. I'm almost positive that all the girls that beat me (10, I believe) did so on the swim. If I could get faster on the swim, I might have had a chance to catch up to a few of them.

Pretty good run over to the transition area, and I ended up passing up a few girls- why do they always walk? I caught my breath while changing, and thought I went quickly enough, but I still put my shoes on before getting on my bike. Those 10sec I would save would be at the sacrifice of me falling off my bike trying to coordinate the shoes. (time is an estimate)

Nothing really.

I was huffing and puffing pretty hard coming off the swim, so I was a bit worried to start the bike. There was no elevation profile provided for the race, and only a vague description, so I really didn't know what to expect. Well, it was pretty darn hilly, with what seemed like an unfair amount of time spent climbing vs. descending. The roads were of questionable quality- a lot of potholes, rocks, debri and glass, and a few very scary grates that were put in specifically to catch bike tires (at least that's the way they were facing).

Besides my initial concerns, I thought I did really well on the bike. I passed a few girls right off the bat, and even got to say hi to my friend Liz. I caught up to and passed a good number of guys too, who had started about 15min ahead of the girls, so that got me psyched. I can't imagine any of the guys I passed being particularly fond of my smiling face whizzing by :)

I had a friggin great time out there. I got talkin' to some of the boys I was right around and we would have a game where I passed them on the uphill, and then they'd speed by on the downhill. My max speed was 37.7 which is incredible for me, but I just don't weigh enough to go that fast on the downhill. I couldn't believe when I checked my garmin afterwards that my average miles per hour were over 18!! WOW! That is great for me, especially when I found the course to be so challenging! I was dissapointed that I didn't find too many girls to pass out there, so I was basically just racing the guys at the back of their pack.

I could've spent more time in aero position, but I'm not comfortable climbing while tucked in, and there were so many gear changes, that I didn't stay down that often. I would say 60/40 non-aero to aero. I'll have to work on that.


Bulk up so I can be faster on the downhill, but otherwise, I thought I pushed myself pretty hard. I'm not a fast cyclist, but it sure did boost my ego to be consistently passing guys.

Since I forgot to bring my race belt, I had to clip my number on my shirt which took some time. Also, I forgot how I had racked my bike so I tried to put it on backwards at first. Oh well! (time is an estimate)

Remember my race belt and practice my actual transitions more.

While I was on the bike, I was a bit worried about the run because my legs were burning pretty good from the bike. I didn't feel any weirdness in my legs at all, so I just kept up a pace that felt good for me. I slowly started picking off the guys ahead of me and ended up passing about 15 guys total on the run. I still couldn't find any girls ahead of me, so I really didn't have anyone to race. Then at about mile 2, this ridiculously tall, skinny, cute young girl with toothpicks for legs comes flying by me- I couldn't believe it! She was running like a 6:15min/mile at least- I mean, she practically sprinted by me! Grrr...I tried to pick up my pace, but there was just no way I could catch her. She was the only girl the whole time that passed me, besides on the swim.

The sun went behind some clouds at the end, so that was nice, but it was still humid and the quality of the air just felt more dense than usual. Wasn't too bad though, and overall, I thought I had a nice run. I picked up my pace a bit at the end cause I was feeling good, and I finished strong with a smile on my face :) Woo-hoo- I finished my first Olympic and had a BLAST!

If this were my most important race, I could've definitely gone all out on the run. I really didn't want to be too sore though, so I held back a bit, and I also didn't have any pacing goals since I didn't know what to expect out there. Next olympic I'll have a much better idea of what I'm capable of.

I found Liz and asked her how she did- she said she had a great time on the sprint course- WOO-HOO- she's a triathlete now!! I'm so proud :) She got 4th in her age group, so I hope she's hooked now too.

I walked around and ate a banana, then sort of attempted to stretch. I talked to a bunch of people and just had fun! I was picking up my transition area stuff when they did the 'awards' so I didn't hear my name the first time around- sad! I went back over to see how I did, and the guy announced my name again for me, but said it wrong, oh well. I got a pretty new medal to add to my collection- 2 medals in 2 races- not too bad! I gotta race a ton more before I turn 25 and have to compete with the super fast women!


Not knowing the course was def. a limiting factor. I don't think I could've gone much faster on the bike, but it would've been nice to know that there was a lot more hills than I thought.

Now onto SOMA in a month- I'm ready!! :)


For being such a small race, it was tons of fun. I was suprised at how many pretty serious racers there were, but it didn't feel too competitive or anything. They could have marked the course a lot better, there were just some arrows on the ground and a few signs. An elevation profile before the race would be wonderful. If you know what you're getting into though, it was a ton of fun!