The water was SO WARM. Yuck. Placed myself about 2 or 3 people in right near the inside buoy. Got off to a strong start without a lot of carnage, and within about 200M had plenty of open water to myself. Got on a girl's feet for another several hundred meters but lost them around one of the buoys when we caught some of the guys from the back of the wave ahead of us. The rest of the swim was largely uneventful - I was always within 2 feet of all the buoys and within a foot of the turn buoys. Was a little difficult to get into a comfortable breathing/HR zone, but I was able to manage. Frankly, after the first several hundred meters I just wanted OUT of that hot water. Came up on the same girl's feet again with about 300M to go, so I decided to stay behind her until the last 100M, when I really kicked it in hard.

Nothing. Very satisfied with this, considering my lack of hard/structured swim training, my residual fatigue, and the hot water.

Includes a long haul (probably at least 1/4 mile) from the transition area up a hilly grass path to the mount line on the road. Ran up from the lake to my rack, put on my socks, shoes, sunglasses, and helmet, wiped my face off, grabbed the package of Honey Stinger chews I had already opened, and I was off.

T1 rank 355/1069 overall, so it was good enough for me.

Spun easy for the first mile to get my legs warmed up, then rode at a just harder than comfortable pace for most of the rest of the ride. Legs were tired for the first several miles but loosened up and felt good thereafter. Really enjoyed most of the course and ride in general, though by about mile 20 I was DONE sitting on the saddle in tri shorts. Drank 24 oz of water and ate the package of Honey Stinger chews at around 35 minutes in. Was passed a lot (mostly by men) but also passed some other people too.

I was pleased with this. I never really train "enough" on the bike, but over the past 2 months I've definitely put in more 20+ mile rides than I have before other olys. If I rode a lot more and had a tri bike and/or race wheels, I could probably get closer to a 20mph average (on a flat course like this anyway).

Racked my bike, switched shoes, grabbed the Gu Roctane gel, my race number belt and visor, and ran out of there. Put the # belt and visor on as I ran out of transition.

T2 rank 272/1069 overall and 9th in my AG, so I was moving pretty quickly.

So. Hot. So. Tired. Naturally, the sun decided to come out just as I started the run, and the temperature jumped up at least 8 degrees, without any break in the humidity. Honestly, the first mile felt ok once I shook out the brick feeling. Looked at the time on my watch at the first mile markers and thought, "oops! Probably too fast." Ate my Gu Roctane gel just before the first water stop (~ 1.25 miles in). Second mile felt a bit tougher but I was still hanging in and maintained a still very respectable pace. Kept trying to calm down my breathing rate and HR, both of which seemed to remain higher than comfortable. The course looped back by the transition area before beginning the next out-and-back, so I saw my parents and Travis. Their cheering gave me a little boost. As I ran by, I said, "This was fun until the run!" A little after mile 3 the wheels really started to fall off - legs just felt like they had no juice left, and I was alternating between feeling like I was overheating when in the sun and getting a tingly sensation (almost like chills but not quite) when in the shade, especially if a small breeze came. I thought, "Well, here's the fatigue I've been anticipating as a result of all the craziness and lack of sleep the last few days!" I had been drinking water at each of the water stops thus far but decided to start taking small sips of Heed too, as I feared my electrolytes may have been too low despite the gels (should've put Endurolytes in my water bottle or taken the capsules while on the bike). I don't particularly like the taste of Heed but used to drink it while training in CO so I knew I'd tolerate it just fine. The cold washcloths they handed out at the water stop just before mile 5 felt WONDERFUL. Wiped my face and neck down. From then until the 6 mile marker my goal was to just hang on and not blow up. Just before the 6 mile marker I managed to pass another girl from my age group, so my goal thereafter was to keep pushing hard so she wouldn't pass me again (small victories are big when you feel like crap! haha), and hope I wouldn't collapse or throw up at the finish line. Managed to kick it in strong without either of those happening (albeit barely for the latter). SO relieved to be done!

Mile splits: 8:24, 8:38, 9:02, 9:05, 9:40, 9:14, 1:31 (last 0.2)

Other than trying to get in more electrolytes earlier on (which may or may not have made a difference), this was probably all I would have had today anyway given all the activity of the last few days. Frankly, I'm amazed I made it that far into the race before I ran out of gas.

Kept walking for a while past the finish line until I hit some shade. My parents and Travis met me there and then we walked around the expo for a bit. Ate most of a Philly soft pretzel, slice of watermelon, and yogurt and drank a ton of water.


Heat, humidity, and the fact that my brother's wedding was only 2 days prior! I knew I was a bit crazy for even attempting an oly 2 days after that but the timing was otherwise too perfect, since I was already in NJ. My parents haven't been able to see me race a tri since 2008, so they really enjoyed being there too.

Only complaint about this race was that the bike course unfortunately was 2.3 miles short (of the usual oly distance) due to road construction. So while this is a PR, it's not a "true" PR. Still, given my pace on the bike, the extra 2.3 miles probably would've only added about 6 minutes to my time, so it would still have been a huge PR (previous oly PR was 3:02). Largely thanks to a much flatter course than any of my previous olys.


Great race, as expected. CGI puts on very well organized, well thought-out races. Never any doubt as to the correct direction to go on the bike or run courses - plenty of signage, volunteers, and police support. Was also impressed by the buoys on the swim course that were marked every 100M - I've never seen that before at any other race.