This was a rough swim for me. There was a lot of passing (about 10 people over the 400) and bumping around. At one point there were 4 of us straight across, 2 going in one direction, 2 in the other. At least I had some experience with that but it still didn't make the passing any easier. My heart rate was really high when I got out from all the exta energy associated with passing. Probably lost 10-20 sec. during all the passing.

Enter the event with a faster swim time.

Set up messed up T1 for the first part of the field so I don't really know what I went, so I put my estimate. This was a little strange. Had to run downhill in bare feet. I'm not the most coordinated person out there, so I had to be careful not to stub my toes or eat it coming down the hill.

Get more experience.

Since T1 timing was messed up, I added 30 sec. to T1 and took it from my bike time, seems about right but I will never know for sure.

This was by far the hardest part of my race, physically and mentally. I haven't had much time on the bike and knew I needed to pace myself well. However, my nerves took over and I went out really hard on the first loop which was not my Plan 'A', so I came up with Plan 'B' while out on the bike, which was to relax on the second loop and try to get my heartrate under control. No luck, by the end of the second loop I needed water, BAD. Third loop I tried to push the downhill and spin the uphill and then give everything I had left for the bike to the last hill. Then it was time to try and unclip for transition. I made it, barely. I thought I was going to wipe out infront of everone but I hung on.

Get more miles on the bike, including hill repeats. Learn to ride in aero. Learn everything I can about biking.

Running in bike shoes, not my forte. Thank goodness the bike rack wasn't all that far away. I don't even remember how I found the right rack. Bike shoes off, almost fell over, running shoes on, glad we put the lace locks in them. Almost forgot to take off my helmet and sunglass. Race belt on and put my visor on while I was running out of transition. The volunteer in the transition area said stay to the right (as there were people coming the opposite way from the swim). I ran to the left, so the guy yelled, "your other right," I was a little out of it. :)

Breathe, remember to breathe. And stay to the actual "right."

Ouch. This was the most painful 5K I've run. First mile, downhill which wreaked havoc on my quads. Needed water, BAD on the course and couldn't get any until the 2 mile mark but at that point I thought I may pass out but told myself to keep pushing; it would be ok. Kept mentally preparing myself for the last mile, knew it was uphill and it was going to take everything I had. At this point I was on the verge on an asthma attack, had to keep it in check. If the attack started, there is no way to stop it unless I stop moving and I didn't want to walk the finish. Saw my dad and brother close to the finish line so I drove my legs home. Was so happy to be done with the race and finally stop moving.

Drink more water before the run. Way before the run.

Walked around and found Dan, my dad and brother. Saw fellow BTers and hung out with some RMST folks too. Drank lots of water (finally)!! Tried to stretch out my lower back, it was screaming by the time I was done. No massage because I couldn't stand to have anyone touch my back.


Was way dehydrated and lower back in lots of pain. Need to learn to take in nutrition on the bike and need to get my back to heal. Also need to learn to ride in aero.


Though it was painful, this race was lots of fun. Had a great time and look forward to training for the next one! :)