Oh, my. As if my swimming couldn't get worse. I love OWS, so this was very disappointing. But I should have known I would have issues.

1) Cloudy/overcast sky
2) Foggy goggles
3) Buoys on the right, when I breathe to the left

When I was able to just swim, I think I was doing pretty well, but I had to stop and clear my goggles too many times. And I couldn't just glance up to sight if I really wanted to see anything because I couldn't see anything. I got off track a little (which I never do) because I couldn't see the buoys even when I did breathe to the right. I almost turned around in the wrong spot because I honestly couldn't see the next buoys. I actually started turning and then realized that the people in front of me were still going. I decided to trust them, even after wiping my goggles off, because I could not see the next buoy. And this with my contacts in. It was just horrible.

There was a lot of contact for me in this swim, maybe because I couldn't see anyone. I never got whacked (or whacked anyone) super hard, but there were blows exchanged. I was also able to experiment a little with drafting, and that was nice.

Heading south was slow going because we had some mild chop/waves, but heading back north at the turn around was amazingly fast.

I wasn't the last person out of the water. Win.

1) Work on breathing more efficiently on the right.
2) Get new goggles or try the spray spit. (Real spit doesn't work on these goggles. Believe me. I tried.)

We exited the water and had a short run up to transition. The other woman in my age group passed me on this run up to the bikes. That pissed me off. On the other hand. She had a worse swim than I did.

Other than that, I think this was pretty speedy. I didn't waste any time, and just got out on the bike as quickly as I could.

Run faster upon exiting the water.

The road surface was wet, so the RD had cautioned us about going too quickly. Well, that's fine when you are a fast rider, but when you are a rider like I am . . . I wasn't going to slow down. I am slow enough.

The other woman in my age group passed me on the bike after we left transition. I had to let her go, but my goal was to at least keep her in sight thinking that if I didn't let her get too far away, I could catch her on the run. That is usually what happens. But remember, she passed me on the run up to transition. Hmmm. I forgot about that on the bike.

So I'm just biking away, and the course is mostly flat with a couple rollers and what I would call hills, but I'm doing okay. I'm passing a few people and being passed by a few people, but I'm not letting it bother me. My goal for this race was to have a good attitude, so I tried not to beat myself up too much or let my mind start fretting about everything.

I made a nice turn around, and headed back to the lake. The hill climb seemed worse in this direction, and I remember noticing that as I was sailing down the hill to the turn around -- that riders were struggling. So I just settled in and repeated "Climb. Relax. Climb. Relax." Until I was up and over the top. Hooray! I'm "hammering" (for me) down the hills and rollers because I must keep moving to make up for my sucky climbing. A couple women and I played leap frog on the rollers. They would pass me going up, and then I would sail past them going down. We were laughing about it. Ha ha ha. I suck at climbing. Hysterical.

But what is this I see???? About two miles from the lake, I see the other woman in my age group. She is not looking strong. Wow. I cannot believe my good fortune. I pass her, and I can kind of tell that it pisses her off. I hammer through into the park, and then I take a turn a little too fast and get nervous. By this time it has started to sprinkle, so the roads are getting wetter again. I decide to play it cautious on the turns in the park, and she flies past me. I loved that. Just loved it. Gutsy.



Well, for me this was a great ride. I was really pumped up about it going into the run because with the pace I've been training at this summer, I maintained a good pace in this race. I really don't know what's up with my biking this year. It's just horrible. Really pitiful.

So, I would really like to get faster on the bike. I'm pretty fearless while not being reckless, so I think I could mentally go faster if I could get my legs to do it.

So she beat me into transition, and flew out a few seconds ahead of me. I'm still delusional thinking I will catch her because I always catch women in my age group on the run. Always.

I don't know why this took me over a minute. I guess I fumbled with my shoes a little, and they both ended up coming untied at different times on the run, so I guess I just wasn't moving well.

Move faster. I don't know. This transition is not very complicated, so 90 seconds is really ridiculously slow.

By this time, the rain is coming down, and while the bike was east/west, the run seemed primarily south/north. So it was blisteringly hot running north, even with rain on my back. I was so relieved to turn and run into the wind/rain because it helped to cool me down. It just seemed so hot/humid/wet.

And where is that woman??? I'm looking and looking for her, waiting to pass her, and I see her coming the other way. And she looks good. That surprised me. She looked heavier than I am, so I just assumed . . . Wrong. She beat me on the run by nearly 2 mins/mile. I didn't have a prayer of catching her. Ever.

I realized that on my second loop. We passed each other for the last time, and she did not look good, but I had also figured out by then that she wasn't going to crumble. Well, good for her. So now, I'm just trying to keep going myself. And not be last.

The sweeper came through the course while I was about 1.5 miles away from finishing and asked me if I was on my first or second loop. Good God, I thought. But I said, "Second." And he said, "Good!" The way I was feeling, I couldn't have done another loop, even if this one had been my first. I was done.

I had to stop and tie my shoes. Twice. Annoying. I ran through all of the water stops, save one. It was a tough run. It shouldn't have been, but I'm just not used to heat and humidity. Heat okay. I can manage that. But by time I was on my last loop, the rain was coming down pretty good, and the air was thick.

I walked as quickly as I could to the restroom. Ahhhh. My bladder is happy. I ate half a banana and drank more water. Cleaned up my transition spot, and then waited around for the awards, thinking that I might get an AG award. I wasn't sure how many were in my AG. Just the two of us.

I then drove to Hutch and met Hubby and Jayson at Qdoba. Yummy steak quesadilla. I started crashing a little, but I made it home safely, in a downpour.


I am competitive, but I don't train like a competitor. Time. Effort. I wouldn't say that I phone my workouts in, but I definitely could push harder. But then I would risk injury. So I play it on the safe side.


I really loved this race. However, I don't think the AG awards are necessary in this small of a field. Like my 12 year old son said when I showed him my 2nd place medal. "Good for you!! You tried!!!" (with a sarcastic two thumbs up.) Yep. Doesn't mean too much.