Oh that water felt good! The swim was good. I have not done a treading water start and now understand the concept of the "washing machine". I was not aggressive enough to fight for a front start, and I should have been. Everyone started off fast, but shortly in I had to make my way through the people that couldn't sustain it. That was tough, water had no visibility and you couldn't see bubbles or feet. I rounded great at the buoy actually brushing it with my arm as as I did, unfortunately I needed to round a little further around the buoy and ended up off course. It was difficult to see the remaining buoys or the exit as the sun was right in my eyes.

Start in the front. I need to work on sighting, and rounding the buoy better.

I thought transition was better than it turned out to be. I am not sure where I can pick up speed. I think I need to run into and out of transition like it is a 5K, or at least think about all those people I am chasing. I think I may take it too casually.

Practice!

I felt good out of transition, and felt even better clipping in on the first try. It was an easy flat for about 4 miles until the big hill climb, and I knew I could make good time while preparing for the hill climb. I figured it was a good time to take in some fluids. And did a couple of times, and on the third....oops there goes MY ONLY water bottle :). Question of the day answered.

I began to doubt myself whether I made a good decision to not stop for the water bottle. After the first hill climb my mouth was very dry, and I was beginning to think that maybe I should stop for one of the dropped bottles on the course. :). After the series of rollers, I made the conscious decision to hold on to my spit rather than get rid of it, sucking every last drop of water out of it.

The finish was good, and I was able to unclip quickly dismount well, and get into transition. This was a good bike time for me given my training on the bike, and my T.I.T.S.

I need more time in the saddle. I have less than 200 miles on the bike since my injury last September. I have been reluctant to push hard in training for fear of a re injuring, but I think that is not a concern anymore. I need to get out there on it.

Not drop my water bottle. When we got home my husband promptly put a second cage on my bike!

I was tired and hot. I grabbed my half water bottle as I walked out of transition trying to get most of it in me, rather than on me.

Not drop my water bottle, so I don't have to worry about getting fluids in me on a hot day.

I started out hard running a 7:30 pace, but couldn't sustain it. I was sucking air on the steepest part of the hill and had to drop the pace to get the breathing under control. Usually I can run the HR up without sucking air, just couldn't do it today. My mouth felt like it was full of toothpaste with no flavoring, and at the second water station I had to slow to a walk to get a cup of water into me. I ran the second half hard, but it wasn't enough to bring up the pace.

I was hoping for a faster run, but this 5k was better than the one in my last tri by 4 minutes.

Not drop my water bottle.

Just need to push it harder. I don't know what I was saving myself for.

Got something to drink. Went to cheer in two of the newbies I met in transition, and a couple of other people that I encouraged during the run. Got something to drink. Looked for my family. Got something to drink. Found my family, and got some food. Got something to drink.


Overall I am happy with the race. Compared to my last tri I did better in the swim and the run.

dropping my water bottle didn't help. If I had it on the bike, I wouldn't have thought two seconds about it, not having it was all I could focus on on such a hot day.

I Need more time in the saddle.


They did a great job on this race. The bike course was a heavy traffic course and they had it well marked and coned off in areas of concern. They had a large police presence at all intersections. They did a nice job of marking the road hazards so we were aware of them before they came up on us.

May do it next year.