Two waves for this race. All men in wave 1 and all women in wave 2. First timer men were welcome to start with the women if they wanted. When the horn went off, I just wasnt ready to go. I was trying to reset my Timex so I could time my race. Pushing all the damn buttons in flap cuz I suddenly couldnt remember how to clear and reset the chrono. GeezUS!! So I am standing on the beach while everyone else is taking off into the water. F*k it! Off I go to try and catch up. I am already way behind, but there are a few other stragglers who feel the need to beat on me. One girl keeps putting her hand on my back. WTF, its a big freakin' lake. I swim away from her and head to the first buoy which seems like its at least a mile away. Buoys are on my right shoulder so its a challenge to keep them in my sights. I know I have to just go easy as I have not been swimming lately and I want to be sure that I don't exhaust myself in the middle of the lake. I round the first buoy and begin the very long horizontal portion of the course. I am alone now completely. There are a handful of swimmers behind me and I can see the pack way in front of me. No way I'm gonna catch up so just settle in and do your own thing. And so its a lonely swim to the second turn. Making the second turn you kind of had to cut in a bit to head to the finish. I may not have cut in enough thus adding distance and going off course a bit. Again, I was kinda by myself and its a big f*kn lake so I spent some time on this leg just trying to swim in closer to the line. Towards the end there were several green caps (men) and few pinks(women) so I knew I had a least caught some of the really bad male swimmers and would not be last out of the water. I was pretty close though. There were few spectators on the beach at this point, but they included my husband and several friends. So great to hear a bunch of people cheering for me. Ran to where I had left a pair of sneaks for the very long run up to transition.

Ummm, not d*ck around with my watch on the beach while the pack takes off without me. Set my watch up long before the start of the race. Get some swim workouts in on a more consistent basis. Compared with my 1.2 mile swim at Mooseman, this was a pretty lousy swim for me. Although, I have to say that I didnt feel like I was swimming poorly, I just didnt seem to have any speed.

The run to transition was about a 3rd of a mile up a gravely road. You had to put something on your feet to be able to run this. This run was really tough. I was feeling a lot of fatique in my legs and the wetsuit still half on was making it even more difficult. I new I would be one of the last people leaving transition on my bike so I was motivated to go as quickly as possible. Got into transition, sat down and pulled my wetsuit off, helmet on, sunglasses, guzzle some water, off I go. Another jaunt to the mounting area. My legs are feeling the burn right now and I'm not even on the bike. Okay Pam give yourself a break—you're not exactly fresh today.

Nothing

I knew the bike course was going to be tough as I had driven it the day before and had heard about it from others who have done this race in the past. I knew I was not going to push to hard as my legs are fatiqued from the big ride last week. I got going and just rode comfortably and had fun with it. Passed a bunch of riders and once again found myself pretty much alone on the course. Caught a few more riders around mile 10. A few more around mile 15. Went back and forth with a few guys around miles 18-22. And now the really hard part. The last mile of this race is some pretty tough uphill. I knew I would have to hunker down and dig deep to get myself up this today. Luckily, I was not alone for this as there were a couple of guys right there with me. You had to get out of the saddle to get up some of the steeper portions. I found Dave on the very last really tough incline. Always there with encouragement! My biggest fan! I so needed to see him and hear him say "just one more little rise and you're there". I made the turn and thought I had more climbing to do, but thankfully, there was the finish line. Totally relieved to know this part was over. I definitely made up some of the time lost on the swim. At the dismount area, had trouble getting unclipped and almost sprung a cramp in my calve. It was unclip or go down in the gravel. Luckily, I got my shoe out and managed not to let the cramp take hold.

Drank about 24 oz of GE from aero bottle. One GU.

Nothing. I rode smart and stayed within myself for this ride.

Pretty happy with this transition time. Little jaunt to transition area running with the bike. Clearly I didnt waste any time racking my bike and getting my running shoes on. Slugged some water and grabbed a gu to stuff in my tri top.

Maybe put some sunscreen on but pretty good transition.

Very tired at this point. Legs felt like logs, but I was determined to find a pace that worked and just go steady. Nothing to prove here except that I could run as some speed in this fatigued state. Found a pace and settled in. The course started with a sort of crazy loop around the park which was cool because you saw your fans a couple of times before you headed out onto the long lonely mostly uphill course. Again, I found myself relatively alone out there. I did run for a bit with one of the guys who was kind of with me on the bike course. We had some nice conversation for a few minutes when he caught up to me. This was good as I could tell that my breathing was under control and I had a nice comfortable pace going. We ran together for a few minutes and then he left me behind. I passed a couple of people in the first mile. Ran alone for a while and then caught up with a group of 3 or 4 guys and a gal. Latched on to #52 and followed him for quite some time til about mile 4.5. At this point, I really had to pee so I jumped into the woods and relieved myself–sweet mercy!!. #52 was pretty far ahead but still in my sights. Had a hard time getting back into my groove after this but was determined to keep running. Hit mile 5 but was desparate to hear some noise from the finish line. Oh, god another big f'in hill!.So quiet and lonely out here on the run course. Water station around mile 5.5. Less than a mile to go thank god! Keep running although my body has had enough. I can hear the noise of the finish line finally. I see #52 up in the distance. This motivates me to pick it up and githerdone! Finally, I see volunteers indicating the turn into the finish. Thank god!! I have enough left to sprint to the finish and shave a few seconds off my pathetic time. My husband and friends cheering me on.

Nothing. I did the best that I could do. I ran the whole way and didnt quit on the hills. I kept thinking about LP and the fact that this is prob how i would feel and that I will need to be this mentally tough and then some to work through that run.

Tried to catch my breath. Guzzled a bottle of water. Gathered with my peeps. Waited for the last of my friends to finish. Ate some peach pie. Did some stretching.


Overall fatigue from last weekend's ride and a tough course. The fact that I have largely ignored swimming this past month.


Another impressive event by Hartford Marathon Foundation.

This race does not have a large field of competitors because the course is notoriously difficult. Those who do show up are quite competitive. Its a tough race and a tough field. If you can hang with these people, you've done alright. I feel like I did alright. I will have to go back in a couple of years and prove that I can do better.