I have never done a run in start, so that alone kinda freaked me out. I was on the inside at the front, which usually works well for me. I got pushed around a bit at the take off and dive, then I was getting edged and hit pretty hard so I just took the squeeze to the inside. Unfortunately, it was WAY too far to the inside. After rounding the first bouy, I had lost anyone from my wave and I was a bit off course to the inside. By the time I got back in line, there were SOOOOOOO many people to swim around from previous waves, I just felt like I was in survival mode and I had to look up VERY often so I didn't clobber anyone. After the last turn, I finally saw a bunch of blue caps from my wave, but I couldn't catch them. I wish I could have been with that PACK!,Oh well, I was VERY disappointed in the swim and Lil told me I was 9th getting out. My worst swim EVER!

start on the outside instead when it is so crowded? There were 28 waves and I was in wave 24. It was a MAD house!

This was a FAST transition. It was 2nd fastest in my AG and it was smooth. I actually passed at least 2 gals in this transition. It is a HUGE transition area, so I was smokin' with this one. Once I crossed and mounted, I did have a little trouble clipping in, but no big deal.

NOTHING!

Started out immediately with a 350' climb in the first mile (also was the last mile of the bike and the last mile of the RUN!) then some down with some rollers. There was ONE nice flattish section before the next hills. They were more than rollers, but not really too bad. Then a massive downhill and cruise to the turnaround - followed by that uphill - a 450' climb back to the 'rollers'. I tag teamed with another girl in my AG, and got passed by the eventual 2nd place finisher. Other than that I didn't see any others in my AG, but apparantly I passed 3 gals on the bike. At one point in this race, I was in 3rd place and had NO idea! I took in 4 gels, 2 heeds and 2 additional water bottles - by FAR the most ever on the bike. I was a little worried towards the end that it would hurt with GI issues on the run, but it was PERFECT. I used the AeroDrink and just refilled it with my 1 bottle of heed and picked up 2 more waters on the way. Seemed to work great. Ultimately I wanted to be at 1:20 and the top 3 finishers were all at or under 1:20 on the bike. I NEED to be there!

go faster? I was pretty much right where my power should have been. I didn't want to push the hills too much, but I need to increase speed somehow! Also, I should have put the girl that I kept switching with away. She got ahead towards the end and I let her go, only to chase her the entire run.

FAST again. Again the 2nd fastest in my AG. had shoes ready, grabbed a gel and went on my way!

nothing

Almost immediately on the run, I had sight of the gal that I was cat and mousing with on the bike (Eileen is her name, I know now) so I just steadily closed the gap, pulling closer on each hill. My actual strategy was not to pass her until close to the top of the last hill, then just put her away. In the mean time, I passed 2 other girls in my AG on the run!!! WOW!!!!! I've NEVER passed anyone on the run before!!!! (OK once in a sprint, but not since) Anyway, cruising up the last hill, I got passed. I tried to stick with her and as she passed Eileen, they both picked up the pace. I was within steps of them cresting the last hill and coming to the small flat before the down. I pushed the flat, then we hit Lynch Hill - NASTY. So at this point I figured I was fighting for 7th or 8th place. But still I wanted to push. But when we started down that hill, it HURT. I thought I was running as fast as I could without killing my legs completely. The thought in my head actually said - it's a B race, don't hurt yourself before Alcatraz or Nats. But I wanted it so for the first half of the hill, I kept them in close range in case someone bonked. They ran side by side into the flat and then into the chute and I surged, but never once thought about really trying to catch them. I was still happy with my FASTEST run split EVER on a really hard course. Lil and Vik and Richard were at the finish line to greet me (thanks to the VIP passes!) and AJ came down as well. I heard them all yelling through the grandstand area - that was AWESOME - THANKS GUYS!!!!!!!!! When I checked the results later and found out that I had given up the podium, I was just sick to my stomach. I know it was a 'B' race, but a podium at WILDFLOWER would have been a dream.

push a tad harder from the start on the run. I was just chasing Eileen and not thinking I could just be running faster for myself. Anyway, how can I be disappointed with such a split?!

walked to the VIP tent to eat lunch and relax. Later I sat in the lake to cool my legs - that felt GREAT!


the fact that it was a b race for me. Standing out in the sun too much the day before probably didn't help. I lived the lesson - "you can't win the race on the swim, but you sure can lose it there" Who knows what would have happened if I had come out at 22:30 or 23' - maybe I would have been complacent, or maybe I would have known I was pretty high in the field and pushed that tiny extra. Maybe I would not have had Eileen to push me though, so who knows :)


This was a crazy trip and a great race. The festival and everything were GREAT and having the VIP passes was so incredibly cool. Pretty much enjoyed food and drinks whenever I needed and was able to stay hydrated anyway. The expo was great and being there with a pro (my coach AJ) I met a LOT of cool people, like the Kuota reps and the Zipp rep, not to mention getting all kinds of free schwagg from them all. Tri-Cal is well organized and the race was well run. My only complaint was transportation to and from HArris Creek CG was a little tough on the day of the long course since all of the roads and even the walking trail (which was part of the run course) was shut down. It took us almost all day to find out that there was a water shuttle, and by the time we did, there was almost an hout wait for it... Anyway, it was GREAT!