This was a great swim. Looking at the course made me seriously nervous about Big Fish in 2 weeks when I'll be doing 1.5k... but today made me think that perhaps its the longer the better when it comes to finding my swim groove. I was in such a zone! I really didn't have too many issues getting out of the mob, we seemed to really spread out pretty quickly. I swam what I felt was a consistent, smooth, long stroke and that seemed to work really well. Considering the elite athletes and downright fasties in my AG, I'm extremely proud that I was 4th!!

Get a sleeveless wetsuit, I was borderline over-warm, especially waiting for the start.

Again I sort of "took my time" in transition. First of all the mamba jamba hill from the water to transition was a BI-otch. After about 10 yards of that I just walked most of it because it was enormous and I wanted to be able to function on the bike, not to mention when I got to my gear!! Again, I grabbed a gu and sucked it down right away. Takes time, but I haven't worked out fueling on the bike yet. Socks, shoes, had to be done. Running through the mud was a new one though!! I wasn't sure how the cleats would work w/mud in them, but it went all right. I had to stop right off the bike again because my brakes were dragging in the front (even though I'd had bikesport check them before I'd racked it). Oh well.

Run the hill? ........No, I wouldn't. That takes some serious stamina.

Biking today scared the poop out of me. First of all, the road was wet due to the storms. Second of all, the road was in pretty bad condition- potholes and cracks ALL over. It was terrifying for the newbie road biker (that's me!). So, I just didn't push it. My goal was to stay upright and not torch my legs before the run, and I was successful at that. This wasn't anything to write home about, but I did it and didn't get hurt. I even passed some really slow people. :) Oh, and there were lots of freaking hills!! I can't get into my big ring without pushing really hard, which kind of makes me swerve... so I didn't- i just coasted. I was a little to nervous to go that fast on the wet downhills anyway, so it was all right. Saw one dude down on the pavement being taken care of by police, EMS, and a firetruck. Clearly more than a case of road rash.

More T.I.T.S.

I thought this would be a longer transition, but I guess without the monster hill to go up it wasn't as long. I did take a few extra moments to smear on some Ivy Block because I was petrified of all the Poison Ivy on course and didn't want to come out looking like Trixie of last week... even if I lost time for it. The bummer deal with that though was that I was left running with greasy hands. Every time I went to wipe the sweat off my face I was smearing it with either lotion or dirt. I also grabbed my fuel belt because I'd decided to do the run w/water and a gu.

Not much.

This was everything it was advertised as. UPPP & down dirt trails through the woods. The bad news was that it was chock full of Poison Ivy. Good news is that it was mostly shaded (I would have died otherwise today, it was So Freaking Hot!). Now that I'm 8 hours beyond the pain of this trail run, it was really fun and I'd love to do it again. Doing it though, I'm pretty sure it was "holy sh#t tough".

Used Trixie's advice as a mantra "walk the hills you can't see over" and I did walk up a lot. This worked out well though and there were others who were doing the same thing. Towards the end of the run I started passing all the people who hadn't been walking the hills... they were now *just* walking... totally trashed by the course. It was way hot already and I was very, very ready to be done by the time we hit a main road again. And that's when the death march hill popped up. Big, Bad, and in the Sun. iiiiiiiiiiiiiick. Got 'er done and then the run to the finish was down the same hill we'd slogged up after the swim. THAT was fun. :) I finished with a smile as I saw Mattliv there cheering.

Nothing, keep listening to Trixie, she knows her trail running. :) Considering my feelings for running while super hot, I'm really proud of myself.

Went back in the lack. LOVELY. Trixie says, "Um, your face is really red!". Yep... back in the lake. It was hot, hot, hot.


Hot, Hot, Hot, lack of confidence on my bike.


This was a great race. I can't believe they bill it as "beginner friendly" though!! Its TOUGH! Well run though and I enjoyed every minute- through gritted teeth. Great post-race lunch and good quality BT hang out fest.