Prepare for a long one...

After Yorktown, I was hoping I could repeat my good swim, but my bad luck started early. Things got off to an interesting start. There were three start waves, which kind of bothered me, made me a little angry. The men were divided into two groups, below and above 40. The women, relay, and aquabike, were all in one wave... about twice the size of the other two! Nutty! There were three minutes between each wave. We got down into the very warm water and there was a guy out there in trouble. He had on a cap from the previous wave, and several people who were nearby seemed to think that he had encountered problems and never started swimming, but nobody noticed until our wave got out there. Apparently he had a seizure and was in trouble. A number of wome held him up while the rest of us tried to get help. We kept waving to the shore, indicating we wanted someone to come out, and screaming help. The nearby kayaks were clueless. Despite all of our screaming, it took a minute or so for someone to notice that we weren't cheering ('cause cheering for the swimmers who have already left by yelling to the shore makes sense...), but were calling for help. The kayakers came over and helped him, pulling him out of the group, and eventually got him on a rescue boat after our wave left. So that delayed our start a little bit, and kind of dampened the mood. I had been pushed to the back when the kayakers came through, so I just stayed there (I prefer to be on the front outside). The horn blew and we were off!

I was doing fine in the swim until some woman kicked me in my nose. Her foot bashed my nose in, moved upward, and smooshed my goggles into my eyes. I had to stop and fix the goggles, and I thought for a moment my nose was bleeding. I don't think it was, but I'm not positive. The goggles are ruined, as part of the seal is... unsealed. I would swim and periodically have to turn around and go backwards while I dumped the water out. Kept going. Then somebody in front of me decided to do a butterfly kick or something, right as I was breathing, so *gulp* down went nasty James River water! Ugh! Kept going. Then I got kicked in the chest. The woman's foot went down my suit and dragged my top with it. Out came my boob. As this was not a naked triathlon, I quickly fixed my suit and kept going. I kept dumping water out of my goggles, which were fogging up far worse than normal. With about 100m left to go, I had to stop, pull the goggles up, and look to see where I was going because I couldn't see. I was on course, so I kept going. If it weren't for the fact that I wear contacts, I might have just dumped the goggles.

I finished, goggles in hand, swim caps just about to pop off my head, and one more good kick to the chest for good measure. And to think I was starting to *gasp* like OWS starts!

Um... swim faster? Have a spare set of goggles with me? Left my boob out for a very memorable photo. :)

I had to wait in line to get out of the river and up the steps. It was like tourists in DC on the escalators... stand to the right so people in a hurry can pass on the left! Jogged to transition, struggled to pull the hated tri-shorts on (a must for a longer bike), dried my feet a bit and pulled on my socks and shes. Shoved the helmet on, grabbed my shades and race number, and I was off.

Pushed people out of the way? That might be frowned upon...

I had lots of water with me on the bike this time, and I was able to get it without stopping or crashing! Yay! Another long one...

Came out of transition and got on the bike quickly. We were heading into the wind and my bike felt like it was slugging through the mud. Horrible feeling! I kept going, though. Probably should have had that front brake looked at, though it is a shame I don't know what I am doing when it comes to bike repairs. I passed some people and some people passed me. Then cars started passing me. No worries. Then a car passed me and pulled back over on the shoulder, between me and the woman I was gaining on. Worries. I couldn't go faster because of the car and I was sucking down exhaust fumes. Why couldn't this idiot pass like everybody else? If I had something to throw at them, I would have. I mentally cussed them out until they pulled into a church. Then I moved forward. Kept going. Got cut off by a woman after she passed me, and then she proceeded to slow down right in front of me. I passed her. She eventually passed me again, cut me off again, then went ahead and cut someone else off. Right about then the race marshall went passed and I would so love to see this woman get a penalty, but she probably didn't That's my luck. I kept going.

Started up the big hill and I was taking it alright, all things considered. Bike still felt like it was going through mud and I felt like I was putting way too much effort into it and not moving anywhere, even on flat ground. Got to the steep part of the hill. I could see people walking. I kept going. A guy in front of me lost control and almost hit the woman passing him, who swerved to avoid him and almost hit the woman passing both of them. I was right behind them, in line to pass the guy and had to brake hard. Nobody wrecked, we didn't stop, and I made it to the top of the hill. Went on to the turnaround, got marked, and headed back down. Started flying down the hill. Saw more people walking bikes up. Some woman came up behind me, passed me, cut me off, while going down hill! She would have clipped my front tire, if I hadn't already felt that the hill was dangerous. I was riding half-aero, bent over, one arm in aero and the other hand on the brake, so I was able to brake enough to not hit her. That would have been a big ouchie.

I got stuck behind a large group of bikers on the way back, about 8 of them. I couldn't get through, so I had to wait for them to straighten out into a semi-line before I could pass about 6 of them. What a mess! I kept going. I made it back to transition and the bike felt like it took no time at all, even though I was working hard. And I didn't even notice the pain in my lady parts for much of the ride, along with the pain in my right knee.

Had my bike looked at before the race. Oh, wait, I had to go to the bathroom. Bad luck for me.

I put my bike up, took off my helmet, fixed the sock in one of my shoes, and took off on the run at a really good pace. I was ready to run!

Nothing, really. Maybe ignored the sock, but it would have really bothered me on the run.

I had plenty of water on the bike, so I was well hydrated for the run. When I got to water stops, I would drink a little and dump the rest on my head. The shady trails were wonderful and that first mile was mostly great. I was loving it! And then I was running up a hill, following a woman, and she screamed! A snake came out of the bushes next to her, but she was already gone. Not so good for me. I am my mother's daughter and my grandmother's granddaughter. I hate snakes! They terrify me! This was a two-foot long black snake, harmless, but I couldn't bring myself to step over it. So I waited for it to pass. Fortunately, it was going along its merry way and went quickly. The woman behind me caught up to me and we both laughed about it and kept going. I pulled ahead of her. I had to stop at some point and pull a rock out of my sock.

Got out into the neighborhood and the hot hot sun. Not so fun. Kept going, although a little slower. I walked for a moment to give my right knee a break, and the woman who caught me with the snake encouraged me onward. I ran with her for a minute and then went ahead. Got some water at the turnaround, said a few good words to a 75-year-old man as he was running along, and kept going. Back into the blissful coolness of the shade. Picked up my pace a bit more and kept going. Passed a few people here and there and had even fewer people pass me. Twisted my ankle on the uneven terrain, but I kept going. A twisted ankle is nothing next to flaming lady parts and bad knees. The bad luck seemed to stop there and when I knew the finish line was near, I dug in and sprinted to the end. The crowd was amazing!! They were so loud and encouraging! Loved it!

Run faster, don't twist my ankle, and, well, there was no hope of ever going over the snake. Can't do it. lol!

Walked to the mist tent, got wet, got some nasty tasting water and a soda, walked around, sat down, laughed, hung out with friends, and enjoyed the morning.


The heat, the front break on my bike, other people, busted goggles, other people, a snake, cars...


This race was prety good... definitely one I would do again. The events at the start of the swim lowered my confidence in the kayakers, but I didn't need them. The volunteers on the run course did a fantastic job directing traffic. I didn't eat the food after the race, so I don't know about that. My big complaint is the extremely limited number of port-a-potties! We needed far more than three! But if that's all I've got to complain about, how mad could it have been? :)