I jumped in the water before the start and the cold must have triggered the panic attack. I immediately started hyperventilating and couldn't catch my breath. I struggled for the first 100 yds or so but I've dealth with this before. I was able to get my breathing back under control and calm myself down enough to put my face in the water. I pep-talked myself and finally found my rhythm. I abandoned the bilateral breathing and that seemed to help a lot. Once I finally got going, I managed to keep a high stroke count so I could pick up a bit of speed. At the turn-around point, I was feeling pretty good. Toward the end, I started to get a little tired. About 150 yds from the end, the men finally caught up and just plowed over the top of me. Some jerk punched me in the face as he swam over the top of me. Chances are, I passed him on the bike anyway! :)
30th woman out of the water.

I just have to get my nerves under control. I would have killed this swim if I didn't panic. I am not sure how I can keep the panic attacks from happening, but at least I am learning how to control my breathing when it does happen. I didn't get scared this time and that helped a lot. I knew how to handle it.

There really is no excuse for this slow time. They had wetsuit strippers, so that wasn't an issue. It was a bit of a run to get through the transition area, but it wasn't too bad. I had a bit of the disorientation problem, but I expected that.

Go faster.

I did well once I got on the bike. I passed 15 women total, and only allowed 1 to pass me. Actually, we rode together most of the way, cat-and-mousing each other all the way to the end. She came out of the water before me, and I caught her, and passed her. Then she passed me, then I passed her again. She finally got passed me on the final hill and we crossed the finish together (she was ahead of me, but I beat her overall time). We chatted a bit over the course of the ride, and I drooled all over her sweet bike (Guru with Zipps). It was cool to have a woman to ride with and fly past all the men that plowed over the top of me during the swim.
15th woman off the bike.

I could have pushed a little harder... but I am happy with how I did.

I have to speed this up too.
I waved to the girl that I rode with and wished her luck on the run. She was out of transition a few seconds before me.

Go faster.

I did way better here than I thought I would. Marathon training sure does help with speed! The run is always pretty uneventful. I got passed by 1 woman, and past a few that I didn't pass on the bike.
The girl that I rode with passed me on her way back up the trail. I waved to her and cheered her on. Cool chick!
I also saw Zac (my hubby) on his way out to the turn around point. We exchanged cheers and kept on.
About half-way, my tummy started to cramp up. I am pretty sure I wasn't getting enough fluids, and that had to have something to do with it. The last mile hurt.

Be sure to get more fluids.

I got some Accelerade at the finish line, grabbed a bottle of water and waited for Zac to come across the line. I ran into the girl I rode with, again, and chatted with her for a bit. She told me her name, but I can't remember (I am bad about that). We talked about future races and the elites we had seen in the race.



Panic attack in the water. Wind on the bike. Tummy issues on the run.


I had a great time at this race. I am really glad that we made it down there to do it.