We had to make our way to the first bouey before the horn went off, which meant we were treading water for a few minutes. I don't love these kinds of starts, but we were all in the same boat.

Started off very uneventful, which surprised me. No one in my way whatsoever for the first hundred yards or so. But then it was like everyone who had started on the outside decided to move inside, and it got crowded.

Nothing crazy happened until about 3/4 of the way to the end of the first long straightaway. This was when the red caps (M18-29 AG - YES HUNDREDS OF THEM IN THIS WAVE) started passing me. I expected a little of this, but there were so many in this wave, it was more than a handful. And they were freaking aggressive. 4 or 5 times (and I know it was just their stroke and how close they were to me), I was literally shoved to the side so they could get by me. It was annoying, and I began to get discouraged. I looked up and could only see 1 or 2 caps from my age group around me, which made me think I had really slowed down. UUUUGH I am supposed to be GOOD at the swim!

My navigation got slightly off after turning back towards the beach; I couldn't swim very straight at all. And more than a few times, a guy would cut literally perpendicularly crosswise in front of me. No idea where they thought they were going, but that made me pop up and re-group a few times.

Coming into the last 200-300 yards, I seriously kicked it in. I was sprinting. My goal was to pass at least one yellow cap between then and the finish. I PASSED THREE!!! WOOOOOT! Thinking I would be well over 40 minutes when I got to the boat ramp, I was SHOCKED to see 36:50 on my watch. HOLY EFFING CRAP that is my best HIM swim to date!!! Seriously?! Did I seriously just rock that swim? Yeah. I did. :)

IMKS 2008 - 41:20
REDman 2008 - 38:24
IMKS 2009 - 37:01

Not get disouraged with the fast fishies in the wave behind me passing. It happens and I need to ignore it.

Good crowd coming out of the water, runny run run to my spot which was closer to the swim exit (booooo). Peeled the wetsuit off and when I went to step on it to get my leg out, my left calf got a little cramp. Chatted with the girl next to me about nothing in particular and went through the motions for everything else.

Not a great time, but you have to remember I had to clip clop in my cleats through 1000 other bikes. It was a long, tedius run to the bike out.

Move faster in general.

This was my, what, 8th time on this course or some form of it? I knew exactly what I was in for and was READY FREDDY!

Clouds were still out and I was praying for anything but severe weather. Rain would be fine, sun would be fine... just no lightning or tornadoes, please! I was very comfortable for most of this ride... in aero for much longer than I was in any of the practice rides. It somehow seemed less hilly today, if that is possible. It did rain a tiddy bit in the first 1/4 of the bike, but nothing more than a few sprinkles.

OH, a few days ago I'd decided to remove my rear hydration system and just go with the aero bottle and one bottle on the bike. Kinda new, all though I have used the aero bottle a few times. I just don't like it because I can't see my bike computer, the bottle covers up the display. So for the race, I did something very uncharacteristic... I left my bike computer at home. GASP! I know. Plus, I've never successfully held onto a water bottle hand off on the bike, so that kind of worried me because I was relying on the course for water. In the end, I executed the hand off FLAWLESSLY! I had to slow down to almost a stop, but it worked all three times! Yay me! The only thing about the aero bottle is I don't have a cover or a poofy, so it splashed everywhere, including in my bento box into my open ziplock of homemade granola bars. Booo soggy granola bar! I ate the whole pack of Shot Bloks first, then tried the granola and was kinda grossed out by it. I was nearing the end, and just decided to finish my GU20 bottle for calories, and vowed to take a GU in the beginning of the run.

The bee-yotch of a hill right before the dam I was dreading all day. But you know, when I got there, it was not nearly as bad as I'd remembered. Oh I was slowed to a crawl like everyone around me (we woo-hood each other and laughed a bit to keep our spirits up), but it was over fairly quickly and I was able to really enjoy the ride across the dam. The sun was OUT now!!! And it was a gorgeous view - I absolutely loved it.

Back into the park for two last hills, and here I was finishing the bike with NO idea how fast I'd gone. I had a little idea from my Timex watch and I knew I'd beaten my old times, I just wasn't sure by how much. The crowd pulled me in, and my bootay and hoo-hah were grateful to be OFF the bike!

IMKS 2008 - 3:31:30
REDman 2008 - 3:32:44
IMKS 2009 - 3:19:09

I had a next-to-the-end spot which was easy to see because my PINK TUTU SKIRT was right there! Did I forget to mention there was a Wizard-of-Oz themed costume contest? I know, right?! I bought a few accessories to go as Glinda the Good Witch of the North! Why not? There was a prize at stake, which was entry into next year's IMKS race!

Took a few extra seconds to re-tie my ponytail and adjust my tiara, then I was off. I had no idea how I would feel on the run, but was pretty optomistic.

I can move faster.

The sun was out in full force and beating down on us! Good for the lack of severe weather, but bad since there was ZERO shade on the run. Aaah well.

Started off feeling pretty damn good! Let me tell you that the crowd freaking LOVED me! I am not exaggerating when I say that at least 100 people yelled "GO PRINCESS!" or some form of. Yeah everyone thought I was a princess or fairy godmother (with my sparkly star wand I was carrying) and just a handful of people realized I was an Oz character. Hee heeee!

Lots of crowd support for the first part of the run, then went into the campgrounds. Surprisingly, there was support there, too! I ran through the first two aid stations, and my first two miles were both roughly at 10 minutes miles. YAY!

After that, my mile average began dropping slightly, but not drastically. At each aid station (14 in 13 miles!) I grabbed something to drink and ice water to pour on my head. I took about 3/4 a GU around mile 4, and ducked into a the potty next to my tent around mile 5? At our campsite I had an awesome cheering section... thanks guys!!!

Coming around to the halfway point it is always a little depressing to have to start a second loop, but I pointed my wand and kept chugging along. Getting hotter now, but the aid stations were very nicely stocked with ice and very cold stuff. Loved that.

The 2nd loop was obviously harder. I walked the big hill on both loops, and in the 2nd loop started to walk a little inbetween aid stations here and there. I got mad at myself when I did, so I never walked for more than 20 seconds at a time.

Lots of people asked me to grant them a wish, or send them to OZ (the finish line), or silly stuff like that. Little girls thought I was a celebrity (princess in pink, LOL) and screamed thier little hearts out for me. It was awesome. I only saw one other costume - it was Dorothy! She rocked.

Miles 11 and 12 were really tough. I was hot, and my feet hurt. My butt hurt. My legs hurt. I had to dig pretty deep, but suddenly I did some math and realized I had 22 minutes to travel 2 miles and I would break 6:30! WTF??? My goal was 6:45!!! I almost didn't believe myself and somehow thought my math was off, but just kept going.

Soon it was MY TURN to turn into the FINISH chute, and OOOOMMMMMMGGGGG this finish chute was fabulous. Looooong and crowd lined, a recognition mat, and a yellow brick road carpet to run on to. As soon as I hit the chute, I whooped it up for the crowd and swung my wand around in the air, yelling WOOHOOOOO and they loved me. I soaked in every second of that finish chute and heard my name as the crowd was still cheering like crazy. I crossed the finish line, hit my watch, and looked at it. 6:24:10.

I immediately welled up and started crying... after I realized that I just PR'd by 30 minutes! 30 freaking minutes are you kidding?! I absolutely could not contain my emotions and I was bawling at this point. The lady in with the medals said "I know.. it's emotional!" and I looked up to see IT WAS CHRISSIE WELLINGTON handing me my medal! I was totally even more flooded with star struck emotion and slighly embarassed that I was bawling in the world champion's face! She put my medal over my head and said "do you want me to sign your visor" I nodded, in disbelief. Then she reached down and signed my race bib, gave me a hug and a peck on the cheeck and said Congratulations. Wow. Chrissie freaking Wellington.

Not walk as much, but my run time average has drastically improved.

IMKS 2008 - 12:44s (before being stopped)
REDman 2008 - 12:11s
IMKS 2009 - 10:53s

In my star struck and emotional daze, I walked to a curb and sat down, still bawling my eyes out. I was SOOOOO ecstatically happy that I'd PRd by 30 minutes, I still couldn't believe it. I wanted to tell Tom, I wanted to tell EVERYONE! And for a moment I just sat there bawling and saying a very heartfelt thank you prayer. Eric came up to me asking what was wrong and I said "I'M SO HAPPY!" I think he was worried about me. I was fine though... so so so soooooo fine!

From that point, it was a barrage of running into so many people I knew. Eric and his parents, Gloria and Ken, LindaKC, my old college room mate Katie, the president of my Tri Club Alan, Chad (cmlane), Alaina/Freckleface/DickDime and the gang... it was all a blur. I did NOT want the BBQ and nothing sounded good so I just sipped on a Gatorade.

Finally Eric and I gathered our things and took them back to the campsite. We hung out with the group for a little bit before heading back to the awards ceremony which started 30 minutes earlier than they said it would (grrrrr!).

The girls and I noticed that Chrissie Wellington was STILL at the finish line handing out medals, which was so awesome. It was really slow so we decided to go get pics taken with her! She was in an ice bath up to her hips, but was so sweet and posed anyway. Stupid me, I didn't realize the other woman next to her was also a pro (Pip Taylor I think?) and I didn't ask to pose with her, when everyone else did. Oh well!

So for the costume contest, the RD TomZ had everyone who had dressed up come onto stage. It was just me and Dorothy! The prize... get this... was free entry into next year's IMKS race! Dude, that's like a $200 prize! He ended up giving it to BOTH OF US! OMG I JUST BANKED A $200 PRIZE FOR RUNNING IN A STUPID COSTUME!

I am still in disbelief over one of the most amazing days I've had in a LONG LONG LONG time. I beat my PR in all three sports, PRd by 30 minutes, got 2 autographs and a pic with Chrissie Wellington, WON free race entry into next year's race, ran in a hilarious costume, met and hung out with some of the most awesome people, and had the freaking time of my LIFE!

This day is gonna be really, really, really hard to top. :)



Nothing. I PRd by 30 minutes!


What a great race! The two transitons threw me off a little, but nothing you can't deal with. It was really well run, with tons of volunteers, crowd support, and a plethora of aid stations especially on the run. The finish line was unbelievable, and I can't WAIT to come back next year!