I ran into Sue Weissman and talked to her for awhile in the swim line. They let 3 people in at a time--one from each line. The line seemed to take really long but it appears that I started at 7:02:19. I went in right behind Sue but she took off like a bandit.

I didn't feel great in the beginning of the swim. I think that was because I hadn't swam in open water in three years. I felt better as it progressed. The red turn buoys were brutal. And after the last turn buoy, I swam left because of the current. I headed to the last buoy that i could see and wondered why everyone was going right. Then I saw that I was off course and headed right. I probably lost some time there.

I avoided the wetsuit strippers because of problems in the past. In hindsight, I should've used them. I couldn't get the wetsuit off over my chip to save my life. It was so frustrating. I also didn't use my Pam spray. I used Glide. That was definitely not good enough. My dark goggles were fine in the cloudy day. They didn't fog up. I used Foggle on Friday night.

I didn't wear socks. That was perfect especially given the rain. I also didn't use sunglasses.

It was raining off and on for the bike. The beginning miles seemed to really tick off fast. I couldn't hold the pace I wanted to and wondered if there was wind. I wasn't sure. I got up to 17.2 average but dropped to 17.1. By about 25 miles, I had to pee. I decided to stop at the 30 mile rest stop and use a porta potty. It was my first time using one in a race since Kona. I kept thinking of Christine M. saying that you feel so much better afterward and can go faster. That turned out to be true. I pulled my pace up to 17.8 after that.

I saw about six people with flat tires. About mile 41, a girl yelled out that she needed to be picked up. After that, I saw a pickup truck that looked like they were with the race. I figured they'd get her.

Consumed on the bike: 1 pack Clif Bloks, 1 chocolate Power Bar and 1 GU. I used BASE salts one time. It wasn't very hot out. I also had 2 of my own Gatorade bottles. I picked up one water along the way.

I took my shoes off after crossing the mat. We had the long "equalizer" run around the perimeter. And I wasn't wearing socks so bear feet it was.

I started the Garmin as soon as I arrived. It was ready to go when I was.

I also put my water bottle waste belt on. I didn't sunscreen. I didn't wear glasses. I did wear a hat.

I put lot of Vaseline before putting socks on. I carried Aquaphor, which came in handy later for chafing under my arms. I carried two mustards and two GUs. I didn't use either of those.

I was going to do a walk/jog because of my knee. I started that and everyone was passing me. So I decided to just keep jogging and see how far I could go. I'd walked occasionally.

I stopped at the first porta potty that I found. I caught up with Natalie who was in the 75-79 AG and was envious of her pace. I tried to keep up with her. I kept catching and passing her and if I'd walk, she'd go by. I see she averaged 12:10s and beat me by 18 minutes overall in the race. All I beat her in was the swim. She killed me on the bike. (She was not sociable at all.)

I also met a guy I called "neuroma man." We had to pass each other 20 times. I ended up hearing about his cortisone shots that didn't work.

I carried a water bottle for the first time. I found this extremely useful. I put ice in it a couple of times and had ice water the whole way. I didn't have to spend so much time as the aid stations.

I ate pretzels about four times. I figured they would stave off cramps plus I was hungry. I never did get any cramps. I also had some of the yellow Gatorade a couple of times.

I really enjoyed the new-to-me two loop course. I kept seeing Linda. Each time I'd see her, she'd be closer.

I was thrilled that I ended up with a 12:36 pace considering I was shooting for 15s. I wasn't able to train at all except for walking because of the arthritis. I only did 13.1 miles once in training and that was walking.


Get my old knee back. Arthritis is for the birds.

Waited for Linda at the finish line. I got choked up after I finished. I couldn't believe I was almost crying! Linda came in really quickly and one of the volunteers said I could hand her her medal. That was nice. We got our photo taken together and then went through the food line and to the transition area. We sat on the ground by our bikes--not an easy task.

The good news was that we didn't have to wait for the awards. The bad news was that neither of us got anything. Oh well.

I thought the food was really lousy. The cookie wasn't even good.



Great volunteers!