The X-50 had two waves of swim starts - 7:00 and 7:05 (which ended up being more like 7:20 and 7:25, but we got there). My wave watched the first wave take off and head straight out towards the sun. As we're waiting for the gun to go off for our wave, we see some of the first wavers standing up WALKING rather than swimming in the middle of the lake! (Apparently there is a sandbar out there!).

So finally, they let us get started. I downed my first Gu just before we got headed out. This swim was pretty uneventful for me, except for a brief moment of panic when I got a huge mouthful of water and couldn't catch my breath. I got myself calmed down and settled back in to a nice, smooth pace. There was a bit of kicking, but for the most part, I did pretty good and stayed on course. I did get a strange cramp in my left calve (more on this later).

Need to work more on sighting so I can stay on course better!

The transition area was probably a good .2 of a mile uphill from the lake, up a cement path. Volunteers were there to help you strip off your wetsuit quickly (boy are they good!) I begged them not to strip my pants off with the wetsuit! So I get to my bike and decided since it was cooler out, that a dry shirt would be a good thing. So I took the time to actually change into my bike jersey.

Keep flip flops or some sort of house shoe near the swim out - I bruised my heel running the cement path up to transition. I have very wimpy feet!

The first few miles of the bike were brutal - the wind had picked up and the roads were HORRIBLE. I actually stopped briefly at mile 4 to see if my brakes were rubbing because I was going so dang slow! (They weren't). Other than the cruddy road conditions, the course was nice with the exception of the "turn around HERE!" that was sprung on us at the last second. I'm surpised there weren't accidents there. Maybe there were, but I didnt see them. The course was two loops, and the last 75% of the course back into the park was super fast! It was so nice.

I need to remember to check my bike out before the race starts - it has a history of the brakes getting moved around (probably from me throwing it in the back of my car).

Pretty uneventful transition. Either that or I have forgotten already!

Dunno...have to think on that one.

There were plenty of water stations and some very friendly volunteers. I did learn that Lime Cliff Shots and Cherry Power-Ade do NOT mix well.

The first mile was a little rough, but I got in a zone and was feeling great! I kept checking my Garmin and wondering what the heck I was doing - it read MUCH faster than I usually run! I did walk through every water stop with the exception of the last one (because it was only 1 mile from the finish line). The last mile I was feeling extraordinary and FLEW through the finish line! It was so awesome!



I need to quit spending so much time chatting with the volunteers at the water stations lol

So my fellow Ironman training friends and I were given an "extra credit" assignment for after the race by our coach. We were lucky enough to get to run 6 more miles! Yay for us! We gathered up after resting for a few minutes and headed back out up the trail while all the other finishers sat around eating and watching the awards ceremony. At this point, none of us cared about the pace lol so we'd run/walk/run/walk/stop at the water stop/walk/run/walk/run/etc. We ran by the man announcing the finishers (there were still others coming in from the run) and he said into the microphone "STOP WORKING OUT" and "Ya'll are SICK!") Denise had a leg injury going on, so she stopped and told us to go on. I think Michael and I ran maybe another mile and were debating the whole way whether we wanted to keep going or call it a day. Just as we decided to keep going and finish it up - my calve cramped big time and stopped me dead in my tracks. A woman walking by saw it happen and she said "Sometimes we need to listen to our bodies" lol (I wanted to say "Yes Mother"). So we stopped at 3.5 miles out of the planned 6.

Unfortunately, by the time we finished our "extra credit", all the booths with food had been taken down! We went up to transition to pack up our stuff so we could find some food somewhere. As we're in transition, Denise is told by a woman that I must have placed in my age bracket, because she got 3rd and there were only 3 of us! Well, for anyone that knows me, I am not a fast swimmer, a fast cyclist OR a fast runner. I am mediocre, but I can go forever. So it's actually pretty pitiful for me to PLACE in anything lol But when you have a small race, anything is possible! So we got all our stuff packed up and headed back to where the timing tent was to see if I actually had placed. I was still in disbelief lol The woman at the timing tent finds my age group print out and says "You didn't just place - you WON!" Unbelievable. And actually pretty pitiful lol because again, I am not fast. I guess it pays to be the youngest in the age bracket, especially when there's only 3 of us lol

So she hands me this most awesome plaque (and the finisher's medal is next to it). I'm still in major disbelief lol It will probably never happen again lol but it sure was FUN!


Again, spending too much time asking the volunteers at the water stop where the beer was! (Which I didn't get any of since everyone was gone by the time we finished our extra credit!).


LOVED this race - they just need to get the roads fixed and also swept if at all possible. There was lots of loose gravel and sand in many places.