Ok, big mistake of the day..forgot my goggles at home. Luckily a kind soul took pity on my and leant me his extra pair. Thank God for good samaritans!!!

It was a short swim and I felt like I'd had a good warm-up so I wasn't too nervous. As the wave started, I realized I was kind of in the middle of the pack, and wondered how that was going to go, and it went about how you'd expect. Got kicked a few times, almost got swum over once, but held my own. I didn't panic at all, and I swam in a straight line. Overall, a big improvement from my first race. Now I know I can handle swimming in a pack.

Nothing. Felt really good, swam straight and was out of the water pretty fast

Transition went better than I expected. It was a pretty long run from the beach to the transition area, but I felt like everything came together alright.

Maybe start practicing riding without socks to eliminate that from the transition.

This was my first race with my road bike, and man, oh ,man what a difference. I definitley felt faster and more comfortable.

The road startd off rough, but changed over to a smooth surface about halfway through. I felt really good going out. I managed to pass a few riders which was great, as I wasn't able to do that at my first race. I got passed a lot too, but I knew I was racing a good race for me. (One comment: Does anyone else hate downhills on the way out on an out and back course.....all I could think of as I was doing 31mi/hr down a hill was how much it was going to suck on the way back.)

I was really feeling great until about mile 12 then I definitely noticed my energy level and strength starting to disappear. I was bummed, but I did try to remind myself that my average speed, was not only better than my previous race, but better than any of my training rides also....HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT I AM RACING MY OWN RACE, NOT SOMEONE ELSE'S

Also, started having some GI upset...not sure if it was related to the gel I had just prior to the swim. I have used this gel before with no problems. Nothing too major, just feeling bloated, and having some gas pains.

More endurance training; more hill work. Try out other gels to rate any effect on my stomach.

Once I got back to my rack I was aggravated, because the person next to me racked his bike in my spot, right over all of my things. Had to push his bike over to make room for mine.
I made a mistake in that I didn't unlace my running shoes, so that ate up some time.

Make sure running shoes are unlaced.

Was pretty tired after the bike, but started out at a decent pace for me. Much like my training though, my HR jumped right up into the high 170s and I just felt so winded. So I did stop to walk several times during the run. Ran when I could, walked when I couldn't. I did pass several people on the run which was a huge accomplishment for me. My first race I did not pass anyone.

I started checking my HRM to see where I was for time, and it was looking to be a very close thing to get across the finish line in under 2 hours. I have to give a huge shout out to a gentleman who passed me as I was walking with about 1/2 a mile to go who told me I was doing good and that there was only about 6 minutes to go. I looked at my watch and saw I was at 1:53 so I decided to just run with him until the end. Now I understand how helpful it is to have a pacer. I never would have made it to the finish line in under 2 hours without him.

I need to pick up my run training both in time and distance. If my shins start acting up (which they didn't today) I'll substitute the eliptical, but I need to be training much more.

Pretty simple, walked, stretched, drank.


Physical ability. Need to train more. Losing weight wouldn't hurt either. :)


Avg HR 163
Max HR 188

Learned a lot from this race. Definitely saw an improvement over my first race. Now I need to take all this info forward and continue to improve.

From a purely silly standpoint I wish I had raced as an age grouper instead of an Athena. Came in DFL for the Athenas....would have been 10th out of 17 in my age group. Live and learn.