The horn went off and we all ran in. We got fairly lucky with the lull in the surf at the start of our wave and didn't have to fight through it (though I wouldn't have minded, since it doesn't bother me). I wanted to start swimming fairly hard for a couple minutes and then settle into a manageable effort....I don't think I ever did much hard swimming, and even my "manageable" effort was pretty relaxed (as evidenced by my time!).

I was feeling pretty good and I was staying "in the moment". I often find my mind wandering to "ugh, I feel like we've been going forever....are we almost finished yet?" places and I've been working hard to not do that. I didn't do that at all in this race, so I was pleased with that. It probably helped that I knew there were five yellow buoys, one red buoy at the turn, another red buoy at the next turn, and finally five orange buoys....so I just kept counting them down and making forward progress.

About the second orange buoy on the way back in, I noticed that I had to pee, which I thought was strange as I'd already gone a few times (and once just minutes before we started). I tried to go while swimming, but couldn't make it happen without stopping, so figured it would either go away or I'd finally pee on the bike ;)

I used to be a 32-34 minute HIM swimmer, but recently have been more like a 38 minute HIM swimmer, despite putting in a decent volume (more now than I did back when I was faster...). I don't know what's happened, and to be honest, I'm really disappointed in it. I'd like to get back to where I used to be, but I don't know how. What I do know is that what I'm doing is not working, so I need to figure something else out, as this is not satisfactory to me.


Figure out what I need to change in order to get back to where I used to be. Part of me wonders if there is a large mental component to it, since I was a better swimmer when I knew I was a crap runner and figured I'd blow myself out on the swim-bike legs and limp it in on the run....and now I'm trying to save myself for the run?? But I had a crap swim during an aquabike last year, so that kind of negates that theory...

This transition had a really long run from the swim exit to the transition area (my Garmin says 0.44 miles). When I got out of the water, I stumbled and almost ate it....somehow managed to save it and continued on my way. After exiting the beach, it was a long run over rough asphalt. I was cursing (maybe some out loud even) because my feet hurt so bad! It was a very welcome reprieve when I finally made it to the transition area (on turf).

I made it to my bike with no issues and saw very few bikes gone from the rack and only one or two girls in the area. I was surprised because I knew my swim time had sucked. My feet still had a lot of sand on them, but I decided not to worry too much about it -- shoved my feet into my socks and shoes, then put on my sunglasses and helmet. With the fog and moisture in the air, my sunglasses were covered in condensation and I couldn't see through them. I pulled them off to wipe them off a bit and promptly dropped them....I thought this was a really bad transition, but in comparing it to the top girls in my AG, it was pretty comparable.

Finally grabbed my bike and ran with it to the mount line, clipped in, and got on my way.


The whole thing could have been smoother, but it wasn't all that slow. I've been watching a ton of ITU racing recently, so maybe I'm ready to try having my shoes already clipped into the pedals (but probably not the whole flying mount thing!)

Biking is my favorite, but things were just not clicking on race day. I was thinking/hoping that being in a later swim wave meant that I would get some draft legal / slingshot opportunities, but it turned out that it mostly meant that I'd spend the entire ride either burning matches by surging to get through draft zones within the allotted 25 seconds, or soft pedaling to stay out of draft zones. Early in the ride, I felt like I was riding like an idiot (too many surges) and was inevitably going to pay for it later....so I think that played with my head in a bad way and I ended up riding way conservatively. I didn't see any big pelotons and really didn't see too much blatant drafting, but the vast majority of people were definitely not riding legally. I understand that it's tough to do so with this many athletes on the course, but it is still a little irritating to see people who either don't care enough to know the rules or don't care enough to follow the rules, while I was trying my hardest to ride legally, even if it meant surging or soft pedaling.

After analyzing my power file, it turns out I wasn't riding anywhere near as spiky as I'd thought, with my peak 1 minute power being only 90% of threshold and my peak 30 second power being right at threshold, and the next five best 30 second powers being under 95% of threshold. Knowing what I know now, I really wish I'd tried harder to stick with my power plan and not let these things get into my head!

Power plan was to ride in the mid- to high-150's for the most part, could push a little harder if I found someone going at a good pace and could stay 12m behind, but still get a little draft benefit, and up to 170 for climbing. Early in the ride, my power was down at 152W and I wasn't feeling good....RPE was not in line with power or HR and I convinced myself that I'd blown out my legs....and despite the fact that power and HR were in line with one another, I couldn't convince myself to ignore RPE and stick with the plan. By the end of the ride, my power had dropped to 146W....I knew I'd under biked, but I still had this nagging feeling that I'd screwed myself and was just hoping I could run.

As per usual, everyone passes me on the ascents (it's not that I'm bad at ascending or that my power to weight ratio is particularly bad, but I work hard at holding steady power, while others seem to really throw down while climbing!), while I pass a good number on flat terrain, and pass just about everyone on descents -- I think this is due to the fact that a) I try to maintain power on the descents if/when I can, b) I've worked hard at improving my aerodynamics, and c) I'm pretty fearless when it comes to descending quickly :)

There was one big climb on the ride, followed by a technical descent that looks like it would be fun as shit to ride! However, I don't trust other cyclists' skills and took it very conservatively. I'm actually somewhat surprised that there weren't any crashes (or at least I didn't see or hear about any) here. On the way back to transition, there were a few climbs that were steep enough to need to shift into the small chainring. On one of them, I managed to drop my chain and could not get it back on without stopping....so that sucked a lot! I wasted some time getting it back on and then restarting on the ascent.

Since it was cool and a little misty, I didn't drink anywhere near as much as I normally do (granted, that's normally in the heat and humidity of Houston!). Also, I still had to pee and despite trying a number of times, I could not go on the bike. I swear, I need to do an entire bike session devoted to learning to pee! I was forcing myself to drink, trying desperately not to screw myself any further for the run....I had two bottles of Skratch on the bike and drank probably 1.5 by the end. I did eat three Honey Stinger Waffles.


Trust HR and power over RPE and trust that my training has prepared me for the surges necessary to ride legally. Learn to pee on the bike :)

Nearing the end of the bike course, I pulled my feet out of my shoes so I could dismount and run into transition....no issues here, other than a couple people lolly gagging around the dismount line. Ran to my transition spot and saw I was the first bike back on the rack....wtf? Again, I know my swim split sucked and I didn't have a stellar ride, so there's no way I'm leading this race for my age group (I wasn't....but apparently they had the fast girls on a different rack?? I mean, I know they had more than the one rack since this one had about 50 bikes on it and there were over 100 in my AG....but did they somehow put all the fast girls on a separate rack? I know the AWA's had three digit bib numbers versus the rest of us in the AG having four digit bib numbers, so I guess they were racked in a different area, which tbh, is bullshit).

But anyways, I racked my bike and decided to do something I've never done before....I sat down and peed in transition. I'm completely shameless....I have no problem peeing in my wetsuit (even when I'm not in the water) or in transition (it was grass/turf, so it wasn't completely obvious), but somehow can't go on the bike. I probably could have gone while running, but I didn't want to risk it, nor did I want to waste the time going to a porta potty.

I ditched my sunglasses, which were foggy the entire ride and driving me nuts! I had meant to take my M2 sleeved top off, but I forgot and ended up being kind of grateful since it was a little cool out and it also meant that I had a pocket for my gels, which I don't in the Kiwami one piece suit. Grabbed my hat, race belt, and gels and ran out of transition while squaring these things away


Learn to pee on the bike :)

As part of the race plan, Marc told me "TRUST YOUR RUN!!!!!" He also said that I have a lot of run strength and to not be afraid to use it....and to get into a rhythm and try to pick people off one by one. I kept repeating those things in my head throughout the run. He'd said to go out at an 8:30 pace for the first 10 miles, and then just go for it on the last 5k. I asked about HR caps and he said he's tending to trust pace over HR, but reluctantly gave me some numbers to go by (I was worried that I wouldn't be able to hold on at 8:30's and that I'd blow up if it was too hard and I stubbornly held on...). Literally as soon as I started the run, I ignored HR and ran based on RPE, while watching pace as a gut check. I was slightly faster than an 8:30 pace, but I felt good and thought I could hold it.

I started picking people off one by one and I was actually really enjoying the run! I've never made up places in the run, so it was nice to be passing people and feeling good!

There were a handful of slower miles (4, 5, 8, and 9) where it must have been net uphill and a handful of faster miles (6, 7, 10, and 11) where it must have been net downhill, but for the most part, they were ticking off around an 8:20.

I took gels around miles 4, 7, and 10, and grabbed water at each aid station. There was a small section on the way back from the Natural Bridges Park heading toward Cliff Dr where things were feeling a little rough. I knew I had less than a 5k left to go and could get through it. Shortly after, I saw a girl in my AG and wanted to pass her and not let her see I was hurting. Passing her gave me some confidence and I was back in a good place again. I talked with her after the race and she told me I was "flying", which is something no one has ever said about my run before! She said she tried to hold on, but had to let me go. Looks like I pulled away by about 40 seconds in the last couple miles, so that's pretty cool.

The last minute of the run is down a steep hill and then onto the beach. I had a couple friends who were cheering me on as I was making the descent and I knew at that point, I'd set a new half marathon PR (as part of a HIM, even!) and was so happy. I veered over to give them high fives, so that was fun! I crossed the finish line with the announcer calling out my name and knew I'd achieved my goal of having a good run split and holding on for a PR! I got choked up and cried....I no longer cared that I had a crap swim and very mediocre bike -- I had a great run and couldn't have been happier!


Nothing -- I'm so happy with this run and the improvement I've made. I know I still have more in me and am really excited to continue to improve

Cried a little, grabbed a bottle of water and space blanket, made my way up the hill to my friends, got choked up a little more, and then cheered on finishers for the next 30 minutes before I desperately needed to get some dry clothes on!



Swim issues that I haven't yet pinpointed, confidence in my biking (or maybe confidence in my run off the bike??)

I'm really considering some of those swim-run races to help improve both my swimming and running....we'll see what I decide for next year



WTC consistently puts on good races, but also consistently has very mediocre food after. And as always, I wish there was a better / more consistent way for them to enforce drafting and position rules on the bike.