like i said swim was BRUTAL. bad enough they canceled the sprint distance swim after hauling so many people in from the Oly distance.
after i rounded the 3rd buoy where we were in the lee of the island i cruised and felt great! no issue at all with open water itself, really just frustrated with the wind/waves at the first 500 or so. if conditions had been better it would have been a fantastic swim.
i drank a lot of the reservoir, so i was well hydrated!

not sure there was much i COULD do differently actually. that i finished at all was a bonus, 'cause there were SO MANY that apparently didn't.

so THEY started the sprint's cycle in a large wave almost immediately after i exited the water, thereby creating a crush of people mounting bikes into the narrow chute at the same time
so no jogging or jumping on the bike for me!

i'd hope that the next time it'll be warmer water and my feet/hands won't be numb on the way to the bike
try to combine actions more, learn the shoes on the bike trick, practice transition with wetsuit

uh, lotsa wind & gusts
one big hill, on the way back i think i got upto 35 mph, but a gust scared me a little and I HAD to slow down
the last little climb to the transition area was killer for me with a headwind
basically the ride went, slight headwind up a 6% one-mile hill, serious headwind, wind at the back, lotsa headwind, wind at the back, wind to my 5 o'clock, big descent, then serious headwind & climb to transition


need to work on efficiency on the bike, CLIMBING HILLS
aero looks SO much easier, especially when windy is kickin' my a**

vague recollection of almost crying, throat closing up on me some what at stop
easy switch to running shoes (got the quick "ties") slip on my skirt with #55 and I was off...sort of

think it was alright except i couldn't tell where to go 'cause there were so many people just milling around, caused some delay

by the time i started the run there was almost no one paying attention to the route, lots of random people wandering around hard to tell exactly where I was supposed to go...almost induced a panic attack 'cause I had done so much already then had to ask 3 people exactly where to run TO.
started jogging out of transition area and body decided to strangle me with throat constriction, can't breath, slow to walk...CALM DOWN.
jog again after out of cones.
stop at port o'can for pee, continue.
after the first time up the sand hill had to stop a minute, someone passed and said "if you need aid, you should go to the table" at that point i wasn't entirely sure I needed aid...had to negotiate some more.
feet specifically started complaining after mile 3, couldn't find the just right window not stopping (where couldn't breathe) and not to fast (where couldn't breathe AND feet hurt). heart rate appeared alright though.
at least the wind had died down by then.
finished with a strong stride though!

not run in sand (ha)

doubled over, then visiting with paramedics to ensure that i was getting enough O2 (which i was, 100% even, thank you altitude training)...survey says, it's an esophageal constriction, NOT asthma.
walk to transition carrying toddler to gather up things
(probably should've walked around some immediately after finish, hindsight is always 20/20 though right?)


esophageal constriction, suddenly wanting to cry at random although there were no true tears


As I don't have much race history (yet), I can only say that it was disappointing to feel that the race was over before I (and others) finished. I know I was slow this race, I know that all those people can't hang around forever.
It seemed like the event was more about the first qualifiers than the 'rest of us'...my husband's observation was that after 3 hours the organization just disintegrated.
The volunteers were still there still cheering my finish, that was nice. I didn't mark the post race activities 'cause I didn't get to participate in any of them. Everything was broken down, or in process, by the time I finished, racks already being packed away, no massage, no food (I think), it didn't appear there were shuttles (as promised) to return the spectators/families of athletes to the parking area (which presumably would have been great to facilitate moving cars closer for late finishers)...our little truck was a pretty long way away with a bike, a tantrum-prone-super-tired-toddleator and the gear.

Under better wind conditions, i.e. NO wind :) I would've finished better.
It's a really pretty place, the Sand Hollow reservoir, the volunteers were great. Overall organization itself could have been better no one was really paying attention to people coming into/outof transition (The Man & Toddleator were right there next to me at T2), several wetsuits were reported MIA.

Looking back on the race I wonder, could I have pushed harder? While I was in it though, all I could think was "just keep going, just keep going...calm down, breathe". I ignore the internal whisper that I failed 'cause I was dead last in my age group...I TRY to ignore it, I'm waiting for it to catalyze the "I can/will do better" whispers. Overall my performance was sub-par I think due to some travel fatigue, and as mentioned the serious gusty winds.

www.milliseconds.com has the race results, looks to me like only 335 of the original OLY athletes competed, out of 505.

I was the only one in a skirt!

p.s. I listed my mental effort at 2 'cause it was pretty difficult negotiating to keep going, my phsy efft level at 4 'cause I really gave it a good effort all things considered...the race was definitely a challenge for me.