So swimming is by far the weakness in any aspect of triathlon. I pretty much hate it. My wave was the last wave of women, so I was fully expecting to get knocked around a little bit. I stood at the back of the wave as the gun went off. I've been working on keeping my face in the water. Last year I did the entire race doggie paddling. My goal was to be out the water in 50 minutes. When I got out there I knew it was going to be a long morning. It was really choppy. I don't know if anyone else thought so, but it was pretty rough for someone who doesn't swim like me. I did okay for the first few hundred yards, concentrating on putting my face in the water and actually "swimming". Then came the boys and it was all over. I swear I've never had my butt and legs grabbed more in my life! I took in a lot of water and just tried to keep calm. There were a bunch of people hanging on to rafts and boards. That really didn't help the confidance. I could finally see my brother and Morgan standing on the beach. By this point I was ready to be done with the swim. I knew I wasn't going to be out in 50 minutes, but I figured with the conditions it was okay.

Put my face in the water and actually swim! Next year I want to be out of the water in 42 minutes!

T1 was great! I remembered from last year that it was a long way from the water to the transition area. In and out, no worries here.

Nothing

I live here in Windermere, so the course literally passed my neighborhood. I have trained on it a few times over the last few months. I thought the course was a little windy. The first few miles went alond pretty quickly. I was worried I was drinking too much water when my areo bottle was empty at mile 12. Thank godness there was an aid station at around 13 or 14. Refilled there and was good to go. Used a mix of Perpetum and Heed. Did a 24 oz bottle every hour and a half. That worked out great. Other than the wind in the beginning things were going well. Then the skies opened up and down came the rain. At first it was refreshing, then just annoying. I was worried I was going to wipe out especially during all of the turns. I dropped my new sunglasses at around mile 37. Crap! They were brand new.

I had to stop at the aid station to use the rest room at around mile 40. There was a great kid who was volunteering. He saw I was coming over to him and asked if I was okay. I told him I just had to pee and he screams, "we've got a pit stop!" All of these volunteers come running over. One helps me off my bike, the other holds the door to the port a potty. When I came out a few seconds later, there was a fresh water in one of my bottle holders, my areo bottle had been refilled and I had a stash of Gu in my bento box! I couldn't believe it! That made my ride.

I hopped back on the bike and was ready to get this thing done. I was very happy to pull back into Fort Wilderness. I'm pretty sure the bike was long, my GSP said we were at 58 miles.

Looking back, I probably could have pushed it a little harder on the bike. That dang rain messed me up. I was scared I was going to fall!

When I got back to the transistion area there were volunteers telling everyone to be careful not to fall. I finally got to my stuff and of course it was soaking wet. Nice. I went from one wet pair of socks to another. Put my visor on and was out.

Have a pair of waterproof socks?

I started out and was thrilled to be on the final leg of the race. I was so slow on the bike that there were tons of people cheering on all of the runners. The first lap was okay, my plan was to run a mile and walk for 2 minutes. It was crazy hot! The run walk plan didn't work out so well as it was like a sauna out there. I ran as much as I could and walked a good amount. I was stopping at evey aid station and pouring tons of water over my head. I've never been a "water dumper" but I guess I am now. Every aid station it was the same thing....GE, water to drink, water to dump and ice down the front and back of the tri suit. I ended up meeting some great people from Miami who are doing IMCDA next month. The lady was so sweet! She kept telling me how great I looked. I saw Randy and knew that he was one lap ahead of me. When I started the second lap I saw Lea, Rick, Ken, Kathy and Dave. That was awesome! Talk about motivation. Lea just kept telling me to listen to my body and everyone else was cheering for me.

At about mile 6 I met a girl named Mary from Fort Lauderdale. We got each other through the next 6 miles. We would set little goals....run to the sign....walk to the tree. And so on and so forth. Man was it hot! We saw the gang again as we started our last lap. Lea told us to take care of each other. We started again with the run/walk and caught up to Mary's friend, Rachel, and her new friend, Eddie. We were together until about a 12.5. I was ready to be done with this thing. I kicked it up and ran towards the finish. I saw Matt, Morgan, Randy and the rest of the Tri Junkies there waiting for me. It was awesome!

I think this went well. Probably a little under trained. Running a little more would have been a great idea.

Listen to the announcer say my name and that I lived in Windermere. He then told everyone that I rode in my neighborhoon. I thought that was kind of cool. I posed for my photo and got my hat and shirt. I went back and waited for Mary and Rachel. Gave them a hug and said congrats! Saw the Tri Junkies and everyone at the finish line. We went in the VIP tent and had a sandwich. No beer! What the heck???


Not enough training.