1/8 in AG
12/62 in All Females
This is a great time trial start so there isn't a ton of contact in the early swim. This swim felt long. I felt like it took forever to finally reach the turn around buoy. I never felt overly tired, or like my heart rate was out of zone, I just felt like I was swimming so slowly. I swam a little too far away from the buoys but don't think I was way off course and don't think I was zig-zagging too much. There was definitely a lot of brain chatter going on in my head and I felt like I had lots of swimming time to think about lots of different things. Once I finally got to the turn around buoy I was hoping to hug the buoy line on the way back in, but I couldn't seem to find the buoy line, so I was just following the caps in front of me. I did start to tire a bit on the final 100-200 yards and was thinking I must have had a slow swim, yet I don't recall feeling like I was being passed by a lot of people. I was definitely happy to reach dry land tho.

Feel better prepared going into the swim. Try to prevent the brain chatter. Swim harder.

3/8 in AG
14/62 in All Females
I started to unzip and work on getting my arms out of wetsuit immediately after getting out of the water, so my run to the t-area was slowed a bit by that. I ran to the wrong side of my rack probably because I was still thinking my gear was underneath my rear tire, so I had to duck underneath the rack (thankfully number 117 failed to show for race), so there was just enough room for me to go between my bike and the next and reach my stuff without having to run all the way around the row of racks. I never had a chance to hit the port-a-potty before the race so I sat down on the ground and pulled the wetsuit over my feet while I peed in the grass because I could never seem to relax enough while swimming to pee. I took the opportunity while I was already on the ground to get bike shoes and helmet on. I popped up, grabbed my bike and ran towards the bike out.

Continue to work on wetsuit removal skills. Not head to the wrong side of the rack.

1/8 in AG
8/62 in All Females
Once I got on my bike and started going I looked down to realize my bike computer wasn't working. The screen wasn't blank but it was frozen on some screen and wouldn't let me change to the pace screen so I had no idea how far or fast I was riding. The course never seemed flat for very long, and there were lots of rolling hills, with a few more substantial (but not real steep or long) hills. I was playing a game of tag with a few different men. They would pass me on the uphills, as I was shifting into a lower gear and trying to "spin" up them a bit, and I would pass them on the flats. This was a new experience for me as I used to pass a lot of people on the uphills but then get passed on the downhills and the flats. I was really trying to power on the downhills which is also new for me, as last year I used to ride the brakes and coast a lot more on the downhills. There was one rider who was blantantly drafting and every time he'd pass me I'd get mad. There was also another guy who was not too happy to playing tag with me, and one time he started blocking after I passed him so I yelled at him that he had to let me over. I finally dropped most of the guys I was playing tag with later in the ride, but had the drafting guy come flying past me in the final few miles. He was alone so I'm assuming he drafted off of people most of the ride to save his legs for the final push.

Make sure bike computer is working so I'm not left trying to estimate my pace. Continue to develop skills and learn to attack all parts of the bike course.

2/8 in AG
8/62 in All Females
Indecisiveness again got to me, and I failed to get my feet out of my bike shoes prior to the dismount line so my dismount was weird because I've gotten used to jumping off the bike at the dismount line without having to complete stop. Dismount and run into transition just felt weird. I racked bike without too much incident (went to the correct side of the rack this time) and took off shoes and helmet. I opted not to waste time with socks and had a bit of trouble getting my running shoes on my bare feet because both my hands and feet were so cold from the chilly day. I grabbed a gel and my race number and headed out of transition.

Get back the confidence to get feet out of bike shoes while still on bike. Put on socks.

1/8 in AG
4/63 in All Females
I went out of transition in what felt like a bit slower pace than normal. My feet felt like frozen bricks well into the run (probably right up until I started feeling pain at mile 3) because they were so cold from the bike, even though the air temperature had already warmed up and the sun was shining. I hit the lap button on my watch as I crossed the timing mat and then I hit the lap button every time I reached a mile marker sign. I felt like I was running too slow, and when I reached the first mile marker and saw 8:00 for the lap split I was definitely a wee bit discouraged. I did some quick math in my head and knew at 8:00 minute pace it would be really tough to reach my sub 2:40 goal. I wondered if the mile marker was positioned a bit off, but decided to try and pick up the pace as much as I could and see if I could still go sub 2:40. I reached the second mile marker and saw the split back in the sub 8 range and thought I should be ok. I passed a few people on the run and was feeling pretty good. I had one guy come flying past me and was glad he was just a relay guy, otherwise it would have hurt my ego more to see him running so fast past me. By the third mile I could feel the pain in my feet and knew that even my new shoes would prevent from me from going sockless in the future. My left foot was definitely more painful than the right, but I knew I was doing some damage to both. I was trying to not think about it and maintain pace. I think I did a pretty good job with this but wonder if I had socks and no pain would I have picked up the pace. Somewhere between mile 4 and 5, I started feeling pain at the back of my foot too and was figuring somehow the chip was causing the problem even though it had the nice cloth strap and no plastic. Turns out my feet just sit deeper in the shoe with these new shoes and the back of the shoe was cutting into my achilles area. I knew once I reached the five mile marker, that sub 2:40 was definitely doable so I just stayed on pace. I picked up my pace when I saw the 6 mile marker and even got close to a full sprint when I saw the finish line, which makes me think I could have pushed the pace more but I was still very pleased with my effort.

Push harder in the first mile and then try to hold the pace for the entire run. Wear socks.

I crossed the finish line and looked down at my shoes to see them stained with blood on both feet. I removed my shoes and walked around barefoot as I had a sizeable wound on the side of each foot and the heel of my left foot. After I finished the race I started coughing and my upper lungs hurt a weird kind of hurt. I wasn't wheezing and I never felt poorly on the run but once I finished my lungs were done with the outdoors and the pollen. I'm calling it an asthma attack, although it wasn't the kind of attacks I had as a child. I didn't have my rescue inhaler with me and continued to feel weird in the lung/breathing department until I got home and into the evening (even after taking my rescue inhaler and my normal inhaler), but I somehow managed to lose the pain and stop the excessive coughing after a few minutes. I walked around a bit and then went and cleared out my transition area and then returned to the finish line area to wait and collect my age group award.


I don't know if it really limited my performance but all the panic and brain chatter is definitely something I'd like to avoid at the next race. Although I never felt it during the race, I'm guessing keeping on top of my allergy and asthma meds is important.


The venue is great and the race organizers do an awesome job with this race. I would definitely attend this race again. At times, the bike course seemed a bit crowded and it was difficult not to fall into a drafting distance but the ride is long enough that by the end of the cyclists were stretched out more and it was easy to maintain speed and not be worried about drafting. The run course was delightfully shady with just enough elevation change to make for a fast run without being too hilly or too flat.