The beach start was kinda fun! Interesting how this was the most contact start that I have been involved in. I started towards the front but far enough to the right that I thought I would avoid some of the traffic. Not a chance. There were some fast girls out there that just blew past me. In fact, I tried to draft off KSH but I looked up and she too was gone. The first 100-200 m are always hard for me to get it going. I was trying to draft off somebody but felt all alone. At one time, after the first bouy, I stopped to see if I was last because there were so many fast swimmmers. When I turned at the 2nd bouy (1000 yd) into the race, I felt great with my stroke and was pushing it. Caught up to some girls. I told myself thst my upper body was just going to rest for the next hour or so on the bike, so go for it. I was stunned to look down and see my watch at 25 something as I stood up in the water. This was 3 1/2 minutes faster than last year at Texas Man.

Longer warmup. By the time I am warmed up, the swim is over - not sure what to do about this.

As I approached the mat, I saw Docshock and just kinda snuck by him as I was running up to the transition area. I got to my bike, grabbed my helmet, sunglasses and took off. Normally I hesitate and see if I have everything but not today! I was about to jump on my bike and noticed that my chain fell off. UGH! Volunteer was awesome and helped fix it! Craig got on his bike just to the right of me . I jumped on, pedaled a bit, then put my shoes on! Best transition in AG!

Deal with the chain and figure out the rubber band and shoe thing!

It was fun riding near somebody that I knew. DocShock and I went back and forth for the 15 miles or so before he dropped me. Once I hit the chipseal I started to slow down for some reason. i saw Robin in the beginning and Peter on the bumpy road, chatted a bit, then saw a girl ahead of me. Caught up to her and noticed she was in my age group. I passed her which was not smart at the time because this motivated her. She sped up and we went back and forth for the next 5 miles or so until we entered the park. I should have waited, gained more momentum, then passed her w/ "authority" (as Tommy says). But once in the park, the smooth surface motivated me to give it another push, so I created a lead before the run.

This was my first race with my new wheels! Thanks Todd - I loved them!

I loved this bike course until we got to the chipseal! Last year I thought this was such a hilly course and this year it was so much easier for me. Beat my time from last year by 19 minutes at Texas Man. Took 1 Gu and that seemed just right!

Practice more with chipseal and not get freaked out that my wheels are falling apart because of the noise!

I was all excited about jumpimg off the bike - felt smooth! Ran to put bike up, had trouble getting my shoes on, took off sunglasses and helmet, put on race belt and ran out while reseting my Garmin.

should be a few seconds faster

I normally love the run part but I was a little scared because my first thought when I got off the bike was, "Oh no, I went too hard on the bike." My legs felt a little tired. I grabbed a water, took a sip and poured the rest on my head and took off. Ran, literally ran, into FloMoMango and she looked like she was having fun and was almost done too! I was shocked to see low 7s for the pace so I decided that I felt good and came up with a goal pace in my head. Saw Craig at the first small turn around, gave him the thumbs up, and realized that the girl I passed on the bike was probably the same distance behind me. That motivated me to pick it up a bit. So I took off, passed Craig and was off to the main road. At the water station a man told me there was about 10 females ahead and to pick it up to catch them. As if this was my coach, I listened to him and again tried to increase my speed. I saw Todd, then FastToad and Tommy and they all looked great. The run was starting to get hard but I was almost at the turnaround and wanted to make sure that I had a lead on the girl behind me. Turned around and passed 2 other females on the stretch before going back into the shade. Mile 5 was my slowest. Saw Jen and I was so glad to see her smiling and she looked very confident! I was ready to be done and was happy to finally hear the MC and the music!

Heard FloMo when I crossed the finish line (awesome to have her yelling) so I went to see her! Then found Todd. I was worried about him the whole race with the vertigo stuff. Talked to the whole Murphy gang and BTers and wanted to watch Jen finish.


The race was a lot of fun! I loved to see people on the course and I liked the music and the fun environment at the finish line. The volunteers were amazing and went out of their way to get the runners the proper drinks! Thanks!!!! It was fun watching everybody get their medals! Congrat to all!!!!