For some reason, I couldn't get comfortable with my breathing. Usually I bilateral breathe. This time it didn't work. So I settled into just breathing every 2 strokes. I wasn't happy, but it worked. I think I was 3rd to the last out of the water, but I'm in the last wave, so it didn't bother me much.

Not get my period the night before???

This went fine. Most of the bikes were gone when I got there. My wetsuit came off easily. I took a few extra seconds to dry my feet, put on socks, shoes, do rag and helmet and off I went.

Right after you get out of transition there are 3 speed bumps. My aero bottle ejected on the first one. Luckily a small boy was there watching the race with his family. He ran up and grabbed it for me. As there was no easy way to put it back on, I asked him to hold it for me until the end of the race. He said he would, so I kept riding.

I had put a bottle of sports drink and one of water on the bike along with the aero bottle. I had debated whether or not to bring the extra water bottle. At this point, I was very glad I did.

The road is a nice rolling out and back. Luckily, there was no wind and it wasn't too hot yet. My breathing still wasn't up to par, though. So I couldn't push myself. I did have a nice, steady ride that I was generally happy with.

Some idiot racked their bike right in my spot. I resisted the urge to pitch the bike into the middle of the transition area and instead moved it only as much as was necessary to rack mine.

I got off my bike stuff, put on my running shoes, grabbed my visor, fuel belt and race belt and shuffled out to the run.

I'm just happy I didn't pitch that doofus' bike.

I've learned that I can't coordinate drinking from a paper cup while I run, so I wear a 4 bottle Amphipod belt with sports drink in 2 and water in 2. There are water stations about every mile on this race, which were well stocked even at the late time that I came through.

I was still feeling marginal. So I decided to chuck Plan A: "do better than last time" for Plan B: "run as much as I can and then walk". I just jogged as I could and was surprised that I did pass a number of people. I kept sipping at my fluids and at each water station I'd grab a cup and pour it over my head. It wasn't as hot as 2 years ago, but it was still much hotter than I'm used to. The run starts out on fire roads and then hits a stretch of the paved bike route. The turn around on the road is marked "mile 3". Once I got there and was still running I knew I could run the whole thing.

When you come off of the pavement you go onto some very well marked trails. I find that the most fun part of the run. You run along the edge of the reservoir and over some boardwalks before you get back onto the original fire road at about mile 5 (which is marked). There's a long, gradual uphill to just before the grass at the finish. The finish is marked by an arch with an announcer calling out your name and number and volunteers grab you and hand you cold water. I think I finished in about 3 hours overall.

Nothing. My hydration and cooling plan worked just right.

I walked around and drank some water and my recovery drink. Then I walked over to the family that had my aero bottle and chatted with them for a while. I wandered back and found the *unheated* showers, cleaned up, and started the 2+ hour drive home.

Hopefully the times will be up in a few days.


Poor timing by my body...


TBF puts on a nice race. They do this series every year, so they have it down cold. The volunteers are very friendly and helpful. The RD knows it's going to be hot, so there's enough water on the run and at the end.