Overall swim was good. I started out good, remembered to breathe and keep my pace. I did pass a couple of people and was passed by a few people as well. I did slow up at a couple of turns to let some people pass me. I could hear the hubby yelling and cheering for me, which was huge motivation. About half way through I found myself in a spot to where there was no one in front or behind me, so I could just swim without worry. That was nice. Before I knew it, I was at the end of the swim.

I forgot to put spit inside my googles, so they fogged up by the end of the 1st lap. That was a little weird, but no time to stop and fix it. Oh well. I do need to train more, but the swim was good for my current fitness level.

T1 was good, but a litte slow. As soon as I hit outside my first thought was sh*t it's cold and the sh*t it's starting to rain! LOL I am glad I took the extra time to throw on a long sleeve shirt and bike jersey. I had my TA laid out well, got my shoes on, shirts, then helmet and gloves.

Nothing really, took extra time to put on extra layers, which definitely paid off.

Right out of transition, there was my hubby cheering me on, and it was great to see him. So, GyGy and I decided to do the bike course together, which was a fantastic idea to me. She led so we could ride at the speed she was comfortable with, which ended up being the perfect pace for me as well. So, we are going along and it starts raining a bit, and then slows up, so we are thinking "whew, ok, maybe it will let up". NOT after that the sky opened up and just started dumping rain. And then I started hearing "dink, dink, dink" on my helmet. I was like, WTF, hail, yes hail. Luckily, it only lasted a few minutes. GyGy and I just started laughing and just having a good time. I mean, what else could you do? I just started thinking, "good time, good times". LOL The only complaint I had were the cars and nothing could be done. So many of them were honking, being rude and speeding. Oh well. By the time we were done with the bike, I was completely soaked from head to toe, puddles in my shoes, etc. Fun stuff. :)

Not much you can do differently in those cirumstances. I ride a hybrid, so can't go to fast anyway. Again, I do need to train more, but feel like I did well for my current fitness level.

T2 was good. Forgot I have to back my bike up under the rack, so went to the wrong side of the bike rack, oh well. I ride with toe clips, so didn't have to change shoes. I took off my helment, bike jersey and gloves, waited for a second for GyGy and took off.

Go to the right side of the bike rack. :)

Over the river and through the woods to the finish line we go! LOL Again, just had to keep a smile on my face because as we came out of transition, there was hubby and keith cheering us on! GyGy is a much stronger runner than me, so told her to go ahead. I actaully did much better on the run than I anticipated. I only walked on the uphills and some through the mud. The run was ok until I got to the mud on the back end. I treaded very carefully because I didn't want to end up in the mud. When there was about .5 miles left, there was my wonderful hubby shooting my picture! LOL So then kept following the course and then bam, there he was again! I was like "no fair!" how did you get there so fast? LOL Ralph, Keith and GyGy cheered me on the finish and it was great to cross the finish line.

Not much. Need to train more, obviously, but did great for me. :)

As I crossed the finish line, got huge hug, kiss and congrats from the hubby, the best prize of all! :) Walked around a bit, chatted with BT/QCTC'ers who had already finished and shared weather/race stories. After a few minutes, really started to get cold. Waited for Rusty and cheered him to the finish line. Then, went to clean up transition and headed home.


I definitely need to train more for Latta and Lake Norman. I think I would have went a bit faster if the weather hadn't been what it was.


Volunteers stayed on the bike course during the rain. Post race activities weren't great, but it was pouring rain. This was probably the most fun I have had during a race, even though the weather conditions were horrible.