first lap was terrible. a cross between tarzan swim and dog paddle. had to adjust goggles about every 5-7 strokes b/c kept getting salt water in eyes. I practiced w/ aquasphere day before. they were too big in nose piece. So I switched to swedish goggles in race. they were great in warm-up, not so much w/ waves and other bodies around. Settled down 2nd lap. much smoother, but didn't find great rhythm. Stuck behind a lady who liked to break out the breast stroke kick every so often. arms and legs everywhere.

different goggles. make sure they work in choppy water.

pretty smooth. Was not a chip race, so I don't know my time exactly.

Wind was not as strong as day before and picked up later on race day. We were blessed during the race. It was actually a cross wind, granted, a fairly good one, but managable.

I had water in my areo bottle. worked well. I also had a gatorade behind seat, which I didn't use. I grabbed a water bottle at turnaround (b/c it was a Lavaman bottle!) which was amino vital instead of water. I squeezed that stuff in my areo bottle and used that for the way back. I drank it all. Also had a GU about 10 min in and another one after I got off the highway (about 5 min before I got to T2). I probably could have pushed harder, but I knew the run was gonna be brutal, so I held back.

went pretty well. I grabbed my visor and sunglasses at T2 for the run, which was a great choice. I might wear one in every race now.

It was a brutal run. Strong head wind first ~3 miles. "goat trail" about mile 4. dirt path around Hilton resort for maybe 1/2 mile. The lava/coral path was the last couple miles. I was slowing down to make sure I didn't roll my ankels. Last .2 miles on sand. not much fun. Hydrated every stop. Could have used one last aid station, but I was surprised how well I was hydrated. Got amino vital at early aid stations, switched to water since I had amino vital stuff on bike. Tried to do intervals w/ 8 min run/ 1 min walk. Had to add more walks as race progressed. I just ran out of steam. I was suckin' wind the last mile or so.

need to work on bricks w/ longer runs.

water. apple. cookie. stretched. went to get massage, but there was an hour wait.
Insertional area of hamstrings were bothering me. My L Satoris (maybe gracillas) was talking to me at end of bike and during run.
Knees really stiff next morning and throughout the next day. no muscle sorness, just joints.


heat, wind.


My race number was 55.
I did this one through TNT for my friend (ex-boyfriend) Clint, who has leukemia. He was on my mind the night before the race. He's having his bone marrow transplant in 3 days. So I was kinda emotional, for many reasons. I was surprised I was able to separate my emotions and focus on race. First olympic distance. I'm pretty pleased w/ results. Initally I wanted to get under 3 hours, but settled with just finishing, since this one was for Clint.
Matt did well 2hr 47 min. Katie 3 hr 18 min. And Dad finished under 4. Mom was our #1 supporter. She gave me a lei after the race. That could have been the best part. The family is talking about doing it again next year. Great Race. Amazing views, especially welcome when the race got too hard.