I'd decided my guiding thought would be "precise & unhurried," since that has been working pretty well for me in the pool, even speed-wise. That, & "Sight!"
The water was 64 degrees, which felt ok to me due to my pond workouts. I wore 2 swim caps, but not the neoprene. The lake had been like glass at 6:00 am, but the wind started to pick up as we went off. The melee wasn't too bad, I drafted a little bit. I was with some other swimmers to the first buoy, at about 350 yards, & I could see later on the Garmin GPS map I swam pretty straight. I wished at the time that there was a way I could tell how fast I was swimming, because I couldn't tell if I was too fast, too slow, or just right. Mostly I breathed to the right due to sun & chop.
The other swimmers lost me by that 1st buoy, though. It was hard to see the second one because I was swimming straight into the sun; but it was a short leg & I think was ok.
When I rounded that buoy, I could feel the wind/waves pushing me along, which made me feel terrific. The autolaps shown on Garmin (920XT) are much faster than earlier. Also I was now mostly breathing to the left, which is my faster side. I was sighting, I was sighting about every 20 strokes but I did get off track several times. The sighting was tiring. In fact, I was getting pretty tired & my sighting strokes got pretty messy, but I knew I'd gone off a little so I had to keep it up. Maybe my general form got messy too. There are only 1 or 2 intermediate buoys along that whole long 700-yard leg, so it was a good thing it wasn't really choppy and I could see them ok.
I knew I was at the back of the pack, but as I approached the far turn-around buoy I started to catch up with other swimmers. That made me think maybe I wasn't really slow, maybe they'd just gone out too fast, a happy thought. When I started passing a lot of swimmers I realized they were wearing yellow caps & must be the first sprint wave. Still, it made me feel great to be passing anybody!
I felt strong on that last leg, but I can see by the GPS that it was a little bit crooked too. I was again swimming into the wind and the autolaps weren't fast. When I got out I felt distinctly more tired than my past sprints at this venue. In past, I have been able to jog up the 29 steps to T-area, but this time I could jog up only halfway, then walked. Mostly I jogged to my bike. However I swam, I don't think I could have put out any more & then gotten on that bike.
Good things:
I did it!
Although not straight enough, it was better than previous years, when the kayaks had to come chase me down.
My cadence shown by the Garmin was very consistent, & I think my swimming was consistent. I believe the different speeds shown by the autolaps were due to wind & maybe breathing side.
I can't compare myself to others in my AG because there were none; but my swim was 36th out of 37 women of all ages, so that was a disappointment. My Garmin GPS shows I swam about 200 extra yards.


Things I need to work on:
Straightness.
Speed!
I need to have confidence that I can swim hard enough to keep up with some of the pack without getting over-exhausted.

I jogged through transition to my bike, but maybe not as fast as usual. While I was swimming, I realized that I had forgotten to place my diluted gel atop my bento box, as I always do. (I tell you, my bad night's sleep had affected my mental acuity.) However, I'd decided that I could grab the other diluted gel which I had put in my run belt. This I did, but it did add a few seconds to my T time. I knew I had to get those calories down, though.
Other that that, transition went fine. I ran my bike out barefoot & mounted up fast.

Maybe I need a checklist of everything I need to do before the race. I do use a list of everything I need to bring, but it doesn't help to have everything if it's not deployed to plan.

I had planned ahead to ride feet-atop-shoes a bit farther than usual to get some speed up before getting my feet in. That all went as planned. I did have some trouble getting the 510 started correctly and bumbled around with it for awhile, feeling a bit mentally foggy, either from fatigue or from the cold water or both.
There were a number of things to concern myself with during the ride. Number one was hydration, since it was becoming quite hot (for around here). I had enough Heed on board, in the Torpedo plus another water bottle (250 calories plus electrolytes). Both are accessible just by sticking a tube in my mouth, but in training I often neglect to do so. I had resolved to drink both completely and it took some attention to keep sipping. The were both gone by the end of the ride. I also had a total of 3 Endurolytes Supreme caps: 1 just before the race, the others about 20 minutes & then 70 minutes into the ride. (I also consumed 166 calories in Perpetuem Solids)
I kept a close eye on cadence. I have had the best results in training, both in terms of speed & not killing my legs, by maintaining that at about 90 rpm. For the most part I accomplished that, except on the biggest climbs & descents.
Scott had given me "redlines" to watch (power levels not to be exceeded) instead of average power levels to maintain.That was something new, but that's that's what I attempted to do. I tried to keep my cadence up & go by RPE, trying to feel out an exertion level that I could sustain. The "old" way, with a power target to hit, made me push harder to keep the average at that target; but I would typically go over the redlines to make up for any lower-power intervals, including downhills & corners. So the overall result of going by the redlines was probably less power, less speed, but more readiness for the run.
Even so, it wasn't an easy ride. It was pretty windy in places, with gusty cross winds, and I was happy to stay entirely in aero. The route is a series of rolling hills, plus one long moderately steep one at miles 10-13. Going up the big hill was not overly hard but I was tired enough that I did come out of aero when the slope was 6-7%, and even stood for a short section.
I had also scoped out in advance exactly where I wanted to get my feet out of my shoes so I could get a little bit of speed back up before entering the "no-pedal zone" leading down to the dismount line. I followed my plan exactly; but still had to slow down a bit for the turn to enter that zone. It was as good as could be & the dismount was good.
Looking at my ride in comparison to all women, 80% of whom are younger than 50--yes, that's 20 or more years younger than yours truly-- I was right in the middle of the group, 20th of 37. I don't think it was too bad at all.
Could I have done better? Well, always. It just seemed like I had a lot of things to do: watching the redlines & the cadence, drinking & eating, sighting, the wind; plus passing a whole lot of people took a bit of attention.

I guess I should in my training work on riding closer to the redlines without going over them.

My T2 was also a bit slower than usual. I ran the bike in without issue, but found someone else's bike helmet sitting where my rear tire needed to be ( These weren't pipe racks, but those wooden things with slots.) So first I had to reach that helmet & chuck it aside without dropping my bike. Then I noticed that I had forgotten to put baby powder in my running shoes, but my feet went in quickly anyway. I quickly grabbed my belt with the little bottles of Heed, which I'd stashed in an insulated pouch to keep cool That was a great idea!
I had decided in advance that I would sacrifice a few seconds trying to grab my other diluted gel from my T-bag, which was over by the fence. (You will recall I had to use my run gel for the bike.) So on the way out I clambered over a pile of bags to reach my own. The flask wasn't in the pocket where I thought it was, though, so I went on without it.

MAKE A LIST FOR TRANSITION ITEMS!

I felt ok starting the run and the first mile was at the pace I hoped, about 9:30. I soon started noticing some discomfort in the big toe & second toe on my left foot. It felt almost like there was something bunched up in my shoe; but it didn't feel too big, like the time I'd dropped an earplug in my shoe, so I just kept on running.
I had my small belt with two 8-oz bottles containing Heed (about 100 calories total plus electrolytes). I made sure to keep sipping because it was in the 80's by then. This may not sound very hot to some, but we really hadn't had any weather this spring above 70°. I had tried to acclimatize to potential heat by purposely overdressing on my runs for the past several weeks. Between that & my persistent attention during the race to hydration & electrolytes, plus a little bit of a breeze, I didn't feel like I was suffering too extremely. At the water stops I just dumped a cup on my back or head.
My foot was another matter. It felt like I was tearing the skin off my big toe, & the other one started really hurting too. The second 2 miles I found I had slowed to about a 10:00 pace.
At the turn-around I accepted an offered gel of a different brand than my usual Hammer because I felt like I was running out of gas. It was hard to eat because it was absolutely disgusting, like licking straight vanilla icing from a bad supermarket cake. I made myself eat it, although gradually.
The last 3 miles were a struggle, with the foot & the disgusting gel & the heat now affecting me. I felt like it was all uphill, although I knew it was basically flat; my pace progressively slowed but by that point I was concerned just with continuing to run, one foot in front of the other.
I wanted to finish strong though, so I decided to walk a few steps during the last water stop in order to be able to pick up my pace for the finish.
I knew just where the last half-mile & quarter mile began and I was able to pick up my pace in that stretch. There was another runner just in front of me that I was trying to catch in the last 200. As we closed the finish he was a few yards ahead of me, but he slowed down prematurely to raise his arms in victory, at which point I buzzed by him through the arch. That was satisfying!
My time put me 25th of 37 women overall. Not bad, considering.

When I got home & looked at my foot, I found that the big toe was ok but the entire second toe was hugely swollen and purple & red. It hurt a lot to walk. I iced it that afternoon & the next day, and the following day I had a previously scheduled doctor's appointment. He x-rayed it, said it wasn't broken but that I must have unknowingly stubbed it hard in transition. (A triathlete himself, he said he's done the same) So OBVIOUSLY, try to watch where I put my feet!
My heat acclimatization was helpful, but I think I should do more of it & start sooner.
I think I should try one shot of gel to begin the run & another at the halfway point. It might help me keep my energy up. And THE LIST to deploy them correctly.

For awhile I just hung onto the fence head-down.Then I shuffled my way back down to the lake and lay in the water for awhile, shoes & all. Oh that felt good & revived me a bit.
Then I hobbled back up the steps & to my car where I drank my recovery drink & put on dry shoes & socks. I thought what I had was a blister on my big toe, but I didn't have any bandaids with me and I couldn't deal with it, so I didn't look. I guess I was in "can't deal with it" mode, because a bypasser told me that my tire on my car looked flat and I didn't look at that either! I went & collected & loaded all my gear and then it was almost time for the awards ceremony so I decided to have lunch afterwards.
(After lunch I prepared to deal with the flat on my car, but a helpful stranger came along & installed my spare for me. )


Straightness on the swim.
Disorganization in T zone.


I hate the awards ceremony at this race and will never again stay for it. There are so many races--not only Intermediate & Sprint but also Duathlon, Aquabikes long & short, relays & kids--that it takes forever, and they do it outside in the sun. At least this year I knew to find some shade, but it was still hot. Last time, when I did the sprint, they awarded the Intermediate first so I thought I'd get out of there fast; but this year they reversed the order so I had to sit around a l-o-n-g time starving to death, although I did have a recovery bar. Seriously, the wine they give as a prize isn't that great; I'll skip the ceremony. Their lunch is terrific, though, in the college cafeteria.