There were 4 waves. By the time the women started in wave 3, the water was all churned up. We exited the water all muddy and gross. They had a shower set up at the water exit if you wanted to run through it. I did not. For some reason my goggles were very loose and they kept filling up with water. I actually stopped 2-3 times to dump the water out. The pond was so shallow, you could stand at any time to do whatever. I actually watched one guy walk the swim while wading.

Tighten up my goggles. (Already done)

T1 went fine except for a few minor issues. My suit got stuck AGAIN even with all the Pam I sprayed. Also, this is the second race I forgot to grab the GU on my mat. Next race I'll tape the GU to my top tube- can't forget it that way.

Remember my GU and perhaps attach my chip band higher on my leg so the wetsuit doesn't get stuck on it????

Like I said, the race course was not marked. It was supposed to be 2x7.5 mile loops. There were minimal volunteers and many turns where there were no markings. At around 7 miles I was in a line of riders and another group was coming straight at us. They had TT helmets, disc wheels, the whole works- we all looked around thinking "one of us is going the wrong way". At one 4-way intersection a volunteer yelled something unintelligible (since I whizzed past at 20 mph). Turn out he yelled, "second loop go left, first loop go right". I still don't know why they allowed one rider to go straight?????? WTF!
Oh, back to my performance- Very early on in the bike I was really huffing and puffing and couldn't control my breathing. My HR was 170, but I didn't want to leave the aero position to control my breathing.

I can't complain about my performance. This was a personal best for me on the bike. I felt awesome! 20.4mph, YEAH!

Unknown- why a race organizer wouldn't record T2 is beyond me. Andy did the race and is POSITIVE that T2 was added into the run splits. So I have no idea. Even in a small transition zone, I missed my spot and had to back up. I did remove my feet from my shoes at the end of the bike(good practice) but I'm still freaked out about jumping off a moving bike.

Nothing. If it really mattered, I'd practice a flying dismount. But, why?

The run came back to that 4-way intersection I mentioned earlier. The 1 rider who went straight, came right at me. I told him he needed to turn to finish the ride and offered him a push. What poor race organizing.
Again, I'm positive I had a personal best. However, since the splits aren't accurate (even down to the time and distance don't equal the correct pace) I almost cried by the time they were posted (2 days later) You can't imagine how great I felt knowing I was running my best run ever. I was coming to the end and a volunteer yelled go to the right (down an alley). I went down the alley, but the guy 5 feet in front of me ran straight, but to the right. I called out to him to get him down the alley too. I can't imagine how far he would have run before someone got him. I crossed the line EXSTATIC and couldn't wait to see my splits. I'm currently so pissed, I sent the race director an email expressing my disappointment. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I had a great run.

Nothing

I listened to all the cursing in the transition area. The racers were pissed! Some wound up riding along Rte 206 and hit a divided highway before they turned it around. Some runners were furious about the lack of direction from beginning to end. I had to agree. This was the worst race I've ever done. No real warm down. I tanked on water until they ran out :)


This was my best race- I wore socks this time and felt awesome. I guess taking my second GU as I started the run was a little too late, but I know how to fix that for next time.


They had good food. Pepperoni bread, soft pretzels, fruit, garlic bread, lots of Entenmens donuts. OK, ready for the icing on the cake? AWARDS. Scoogie won (we all knew Scoogie would win). So the awards are being given out and 1 girl won an award for both the Tri and the Du- wow, she must be good to place in 2 races when the rest of us only did 1. Then the girl who beat me in Athena (Melissa- she was very nice and very nervous- first timer) also took an award for her Age Group. Well, that knocked Sara out of 2nd in the F30-34. So she was pissed. I told the race director who's head was spinning at this time. He apologized and said he'd send her a prize too. So, the initial results were posted at the end of the race, but didn't take into account the wave starts. Once they adjusted the times, they were all messed up. How I lost 4 seconds on my time is beyond me. Wow, we spent $120 to do an organized workout. I'm pissed. This race sucked.