Either my swimming has gotten worse or I've just had some bad performances. This was sub-standard yet again. The start went well, I got in the front group and found a pair of legs to draft off of for a short bit. I then got cut off and from there on out couldn't find a single person to draft off of. The swim felt long, I don't know if the course was long or if my swimming has gotten worse but I struggled a bit here.

Find someone to draft off of, and I guess more swimming is in order!

Again, subpar. I couldn't get the suit over my giant, oversized 310XT, that held me up a few seconds. From there I think I just need to be a bit quicker with everything I do in transition.

And here's where the fun begins! First lap was good, I did just under 22, kinda getting my legs under me and tried to take the two hills pretty easy, save it for later. Shortly after the first hill on the second loop, during a slight decent, I was reaching for my water bottle--still in aero position--when I hit a little bump--one of those small bumps that you just don't notice on the road. With one arm down, leaning on the front, going 30+ it threw me off balance. Front tire jerked to the right, and I just couldn't get control back. If I had some room on my right I probably could have saved it but the road disappeared into (thankfully) grass/dirt and went steep downhill. The wheels lost traction and I slid out on my left side. Wow, that's a rush! First time putting a bike down, and at 30 mph it scared the crap out of me. After a few seconds to catch my breath I checked the damage: no broken bones, some serious road rash on my left forearm, upper arm and back, and some hip pain, but otherwise I was in one peice...and most importantly, so was my bike! I did a full inspection--derailleurs, tires, brakes, quick releases--and determined nothing was broken (I just needed to do some brake adjustments), so it was time to get back in the race!

With the adrenaline pumping I got back on the bike and started climbing my way back through the ranks--I got some shocked comments from people who saw me bloody on the side of the road then cruising past them, which gave me extra oomph that lap.

My next surprise: finding out my gels fell out during the crash. So with a quarter bottle of Gatorade Endurance left I'd be left to on-course support for the last 1:45 of the race...AWESOME!

Anyway, the rest of the bike went fine, I held the hard, steady pace that my coach and I had as a goal and I'd say it went well: minus the crash I was 22.5 mph and would have come in with the second fastest bike split without the 3:30 lost to the crash.

Not fall? Yeah, that sounds about right.

A bit better here, it all went as planned (minus the pesky rock making its way into my right shoe, but that's for later)

Haha...where to begin? Well my thighs started seizing up about half a mile into the run, I knew I was in for a battle. I just hadn't had enough nutrition, period. Half a bottle of water, one bottle of Gatorade Endurance and nothing else, it just wasn't enough...and when I cramp I CRAMP. So I took it (reasonably) slow and steady, just concentrated on keeping a decent pace. I walked the aid stations so I could take in more fluids and walked the second half of the big climb, I think those two things really saved my legs.

So lets see..what else? Oh yeah, my left hip started killing halfway through the run, a product of the spill I took earlier. And at about mile two the pebble in my shoe really started bothering me. By the last mile it was absolute torture--why I didn't take the shoe off during my walk-the-aid-station--during ANY ONE OF THEM--I have no idea. Some times I'm too competitive for my own good.

Anyway, I did the last 3 miles at a 7:10 pace (including two walks during aid stations) which I'm VERY happy with, both from a pacing standpoint and from a 'putting it all out there despite the conditions' standpoint.

Remind myself that ten seconds to adjust something that's causing pain is worth the trouble. Also, drink more and take in more calories before the run, but that was kinda out of my hands today.

Met up with my sisters, who showed up to cheer me on for the finish. Then I roamed aroudn for a half hour looking for a medical station to clean up my blood-stained body. Quick stretch, some great lasagna and a klondike bar, then the awards ceremony, which had a cute small-town feel to it.


Sometimes despite your best efforts you just have crap luck...maybe better bike handling skills would have helped keep me upright, but in the end this was just 'one of those days'. I'm VERY happy with the way I rolled with all the issues and finished strong, but at least one of the issues (the pebble) was correctable, so I need to be more self-aware on the course and remember that these races last hours, sometimes a short break early can pay big time dividends later.


Very fun event. Things are a little confusing with the swim loops and a 4-loop bike course that's running at hte same time as a 2-loop sprint race but they do a good time keeping everyone on track. My one issue, and one I wouldn't have noticed had I not been hurt, was in finding medical help post-race. There was no tent, I asked a few people and no one knew, I just had to go find the medics, who weren't at the ambulance parked on course. They were extremely nice and helpful, but having a tent or at least a good way to find the medics would have been nice.

Other than that, great race, it's a fun and challenging course and the volunteers were fantastic and cheering the whole way around.