Other than the sun obscuring my sighting - it was a perfect swim. I did bump into a friend right at the start and that knocked my goggles a bit. I got them re-positioned and I was off. I gave it a good push to start without stressing myself out too much. It was a pretty small wave (33) so it wasn't long before I had free space to stroke and kick. Lap 1 was smooth sailing and rounded the buoys for lap two feeling great. I caught up to the wave ahead so it was a little crowded getting out of the water.

nada - I'm SO happy with this swim. Our weekly swims at Walden definitely helped. I was cool calm and collected the whole time.

There is a massive hill from the pond to transition and I took my sweet time - saving a minute and sending my heart rate thru the roof just wasn't worth it :) I just made sure had everything I needed for the ride.

This was what I worried about the most but it ended up just fine. I wanted a 16mph pace and I got 16.4 so I'm happy. My feet got numb right on schedule about a half hour into the ride, I sat up a lot and shifted around. The delay at the start had my system a little out of whack and I had a full bladder as I got on the bike - NOT GOOD FOR SITTING IN AERO! Mile after mile ticked off and the bladder didn't go away. Then I couldn't take it any more, at mile 22 I found a nice easy decent - and no one behind me..... you can figure out the rest. SO glad I rode with a bottle of plain water :) SWEET RELIEF - I was back cranking in aero, celebrated hitting the halfway point and cruised thru loop 2. There were a couple of aid stations but my favorite was the guy holding up a Bud Light - it just makes you smile. Seeing the 40 mile marker sent me into hysterics - at this point I knew I could do another hour and smiled the entire way back to transition!

I gotta get faster! I wanted to be done in 3:30 and I got 3:24, goal met but seriously that's too damn slow!

T2 was easy but I knew 13.1 was going to be tough so I puffed on my inhaler a little and set out on my way.

nothing - I don't worry about transitions - they aren't making or braking my podium :)

Ok here's where it got ugly FAST. Having numb feet on the ride really screwed up my run. I couldn't feel anything but pain in my lower legs. I fought thru the first mile and 1/2 to the water stop and then walked for a while. This repeated until I got to the next stop and saw friends - usually that helps boost my spirits but the physical overruled the emotional. I ran/walked with little success then i said F* it and came to a full stop. I shook out my legs trying to release the calves and IT WORKED!! Blood/feeling rushed into my feet and I felt great. Unfortunately this didn't solve the problem but it helped and I repeated whenever the pain got to be too much. I partied at every water stop, took 2 icy sponges each time I passed and just kept going. I encouraged and was encouraged all along the way by/for other runners. I saw familiar faces - KOM, Isis, and of course my teammate whynot-tri. And my friend SunnyS - her usual sunniness is hard to ignore - we had a fun few strides together which helped A LOT. I've never had such an outburst of emotions as I did when I saw the 12 mile marker. I was so mentally exhausted - and then, just a little further ahead, I say my loyal fan club of teammates from Zoom Multisport (they raced at Lobsterman the day before) I was thankful for someone to walk with until they picked me up and forced me to run up the hill to the turn down the finish shoot. There is NO way I would have made it under 7 hours without their encouragement to NOT WALK ANYMORE. Triathlon is an individual sport but the support system really makes it a team effort! I LOVE THOSE CRAZY KIDS!

This winter with be a bike overhaul to correct the foot situation - It's not the engine - I've done bricks - this is a hardware issue that I know can be corrected.

TEARS OF JOY - I found Isis and congratulated her on her podium, got a snack - which was AWESOME, best post race food EVER, full on Thanksgiving FEAST, DELICIOUS!!!! I had 1/2 a beer too, I was rushing to get back over to see KOM and it was worth it :)


I'm just slow - I need to push out of that comfort zone and that's the winter focus. Right now I'm going to enjoy a little rest though ;)


The Pumpkinman team is AWESOME, for a first timer I could not have asked for a better course or support from volunteers, etc. It was amazing, IF I ever do another Half Iron it would probably at a different venue (just for a change) but I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be a part of this race and would do the Sprint in a heartbeat!