I was in the THIRD wave, right after the Pro Women, so I knew it was going to be wide open for us, and throughout the race it would be easy to gauge my position relative to others by who passed me.
This was a deep water wave start which was a first for me. The start was a mess with everyone crawling all over each other- I headed off to the side and finally found some open water and got into a rythym. From that point on I swam great. Felt strong and smotth, literally felt the glide and enjoyed every minute of it. The end came quick- I felt like I could do another lap! Crawled up the ramp and then headed for the 1/4 mile run to transition.

Damn long transition- went smooth overall but the usual problem of pulling down a shirt over a wet body makes it all roll up by your chin!

Took off on the bike and right away focused on lowering my heart rate. At this point I was doing pretty well and was way in front of many in my AG. A few guys on really nice Tri bikes were zipping past me and I didn't even care. I knew this route and about 30 miles in it gets tougher. I was ready- got into a good pace, drinking as planned and taking some gel. Had 2 bottles of HEED with Endualyte, and a bottle of Perpeteum, water in my aero bottle and gel in my pocket. Made it the first 28 miles in 1:20 and was doing great and thinking about how much this rocked, when my luck began to chane. About mile 30 my chain bound and I had to stop. For the life of me I couldn't figure out the hell was going on, but at this point you're not thinking as a mechanic but more in a panic. I started trying to pedal again, then my rear derailer literally pulled right off the frame. WTF? Now what do I do? I grabbed my bike and ran back about 500 yards to a Marine directing traffic and had him call Race Support for me, but I really thought I was done. I waited, and waited, and actually kept my head and was cool with the situation. Frustrated but not pissed. After 36 minutes the guys from Shimano rolled up and literally came running out of thier car to help me. I got a glimmer of hope as they rifled through thier car for replacement parts- Long story short they got me on the road again in. Eight minutes later I rode off- ON A SINGLE SPEED- with 26 miles and 2 of the 3 climbs left i'm on the road again. Thank god I didn't waste energy being pissed, cause I was gonna need it climbing hills. So I hit the first climb, and as I stood and pumped I literally zoomed up passing many! I was smiling and saying oh well, this is better than a DNF! Slow pumps up trhe hills led to quick spins on the opposite side- Hard to maintain any cadence in rollers with only one gear, but I finished strong and actually was catching back up coming back into transition.

By this point I was so glad to have made it back, but my mind was no longer as focused. Transition went well and I even remembered to put on sunscreen, but my legs were pretty tired from that ride

Okay- made it to the run which I had pretty much given up on when my bike broke, so I was just stoked to be here. But now my legs were tired and my mnd wasn't ready for a half marathon. I picked up one foot, put it in front of the other and got myself going. First 8 miles went well although I was spent by this point and ready to end it. Last 5 miles were tough, and I walked through the aid stations and took advantage of the wet sponges. As I neard the last mile I picked it up and ran hard to my firs IRONMAN 70.3 finish.

I was overwhelmed by the moment of accomplishment as I crossed the finish line. 21 weeks of kicking my ass and it was soo worth every second I spent swimming, biking and running to prepare for this. Given my own personal circumstances during this race I was especially proud of myself for not giving up or getting pissed when things went south for me. I hung in there, and although my finishing time was about an hour from my goal (which I was sooooo close to accomplishing!!!) I did finish.
Lessons learned
1. Check equipment much closer. I'm not sure if whatever went wrong on my bike was preventable but i'm not a professional. I should've had my bike tuned at the shop. I can maintain it but it should be checked over once in a while by a pro
2. NEVER give up. I hung in there and finished, and it would've been so much simpler to say F it
3. I need to focus on running more. Given my circumstances, again, I didn't do bad and actually finished faster then it felt, but the run was tougher than it should've been for me