Hmmm. Well, it was more a plain old swim, than it was a race leg. I wasn't into it. The start was rough. Lots of kicking and clawing. Goggles stayed on, but I got beat up a little bit. Certainly the roughest start that I've experienced.

I swam for a couple hundred yards, then I started to get demoralized. I was thinking that I didn't really want to be here right now, that I didn't want to be in this race. The notion of quitting crossed my mind. Seriously, WTH is that about!?!?! At the time, it seemed somewhat logical though. I stopped, yes actually stopped and just looked around for couple seconds, I think I was doing the breaststroke or something. Then I saw and easy draft, and grabbed feet for a little while. I lost my draft at the first bouy, swam to the second, turned the second, and started heading in.

Until this point, I was not swimming well. I was tight and my shoulders felt tired. My suit could have been on tighter, but that's not an excuse that I'm willing to use. With a couple hundred yards to go, I got the urge to stop again. Seriously, WTH is that about? I wasn't so tired that I needed to stop, I was breathing fine. I just WANTED to stop. So I did. I just laid out on my back and looked at how many red caps were behind me, then I looked forward and saw that I was right in the middle of the wave. So, I rolled over and started swimming again.

I swam a lot better from this point on, but overall, this was NOT a race swim. I drafted just for a minute or so, then dropped my draftee when he had navigation issues.

Be ready to go. No mental softness or ambivalence. Be ready to race, or don't race at all. Tighten up the wetsuit shoulders.

Long uphill run to the Trans. Jogged the first part, then walked the steepest section. I forgot to start kicking at the end of the swim and I was not ready to be on my feet. The ground in the transition area sucked. Sandy soil, sticks, nuts, etc. Not a good location IMO. Once I passed the mount line, I nearly fell, as I didn't put enough oomph into the first pedal stroke.

Care.

I just couldn't get the legs to go. It was weird. I was moving my legs, but I wasn't able to get them going fast enough or get enough strength out of them. It took at least half way before they woke up and I could get it going. If I would have gone at the initial pace, all the way through, I bet I would have been in the 17's for speed. WTH, again!?!?!

I'm not sure what exactly happened when they woke up, but I was able to push and pick it up. From there, I dropped some folks. Right calf started to cramp. Not horribly, but I could feel it. I didn't really get passed by very many people, but a couple fast women blew by me from the wave after ours. WOW! I shouted out some encouragement as they went by.

Also, near the end, I saw a sign that I thought was the entrance back into the park. I took my left foot out of my shoe, but realized that it wasn't the right place. Instead of putting my foot right back in, I kept pedaling with my foot out. Whatever. This sums up my attitude. (Note for future - Quit being a big wuss!)

Know the course, be ready to race, fix mistakes as soon as I recognize them.

Someone stole a sock from me. Not both, just one! I had them in a ziplock bag, rolled and ready, on top of my running shoes. Normally, I wouldn't wear socks, but this was a trail run and it was nasty out there. I wanted to add some protection to my feet.

Whomever did it was a butthead. Not only that, but other people had their socks swiped too!

Not take too long looking for the other sock.

Ran out of Transition, and I was already getting passed as I hit the trail. Ran for a while, and tried to get back into trail running mode. I haven't done this in a while, and needed to remind myself of some strategies, eyes on the trail in front of you, quick glances for branches, etc. Trix told me that a couple of the hills were walkers. Okay, remember that.

About a mile in, I started getting the chills. That was pretty much the final nail in the coffin for me. I walked all the uphills, and jogged the flats and downs. I was mad at myself during the run, but didn't care enough to do something about it.

Same things as above. Know the course, be ready for the course, come to the event ready to race, etc.

Came in, grabbed every liquid I could get my hands on. Drank a ton. Then went to cheer on my BT pals. It was great to see them rolling in. I missed a couple of them, dave and robyn. But, I got to see Sushi and Jennifer finish, along with Ryan. Then I just chilled for a while, listened to the awards, then just hung out with BT'ers.


My own mental will. I wasn't prepared to race.