This was a pretty nasty start. Arms and legs everywhere- just kept my head up as I swam. As soon as I was safely spaced away from my wave-mates I started swimming into the guys from the previous waves. Ugh. The silt from the bottom of the resevoir was getting all stirred up and the water was just brown. Ick. In and out as fast as I could and nothing to write home about. I was thrilled to not need a wetsuit, it was too short a swim to even consider it but it was nice to also not be cold.

Nothing.

It was quite the haul to our bikes but I jogged the whole thing after smiling at my camera crew (hubby, brother & brother's fiance). Realized halfway there that I had seaweed (lakeweed?) wrapped around my right ankle! Transition was easy peasy though I did take a second to rip the seaweed off my chip. Our bikes were pretty jammed on the rack but my mom had traded our spots after we'd initially set her bike on the end, she knew I'd be out first so I ended up with my bike on the outside end which made things very easy.

Nothing.

This was the first time I've raced on my new bike and not been totally nervous and/or terrified. I really actually enjoyed this ride and was relatively calm and comfortable. I also spent the majority of the ride in aero. Not a single woman passed me. I got passed by a handful of men, but smiled because I knew they'd started the swim before me so they were trying to make up time. It was a pretty easy course compared with my last two races (Big Fish & Ann Arbor) but I knew my poor mother would struggle with the hills. I was excited to come into the home stretch seeing only 2 other women on the run out in front of me (run used the bike course too). My camera crew almost missed me as I came *flying* (hehehe) back into the parking lot. Fun ride!

Start pushing it a little now that I'm feeling more confident.

In and out, grabbed my hat & number and put them on while running, thus having no hands free to grab the h20/gatorade at the table on the way out of transition.

Grow a 3rd arm to grab fluids! Ditch the sunglasses since I had my visor.

This was a hot and hilly run! As I exited the parking lot, Tom yelled that I was the 4th woman and the 3rd place woman was only 30 seconds ahead. I just rolled my eyes and kept trucking because I knew I was already at top speed. Fortunately, within the first minute I got passed (like I was standing still) by another woman and that took the pressure off. I was a tad bummed because she was 34 and in my AG. Further on I got passed by another woman (but she was only 17). I just kept running consistently... those little rollers from the bike ride felt much more major on the run! Before I got to the water stop I finally saw my mom headed back in on her bike and was doubly happy to see she wasn't the last one on the bike (2nd to last!). She looked happy, which was a relief. The entire run I was following a twenty something looking girl who would stop to walk and just when I thought I could pass her she'd start running again. I got passed on the last long hill by one more woman and just after that I managed to pass the twenty something chick. Just after that I passed my mom on her way out to run and gave her a high five (and told her to leave some in the tank for the last hill!). Tom and Brook caught up with me as I passed and ran me in. I sprinted through the parking lot and finished strong!

Nothing. I didn't expect any world records after 3 weeks vacationing in Europe!

Waited for my mom to finish and cheered in the rest of the participants. Found out that I'd finished 1st in my AG because the 34yr-old who beat me on the run had taken 2nd OA. Cool! Then we realized that my mom had taken 1st in her AG too... there weren't any other 50 year old women. In fact, she was the oldest woman on the course! Score for us!


Aforementioned 3 week vacation in Europe. Also, the run was pretty darn hot!


For a first year race, I thought the RDs (BTers, so of course) did a fantastic job! Seems the chips failed, but that's not really their fault. No worries, I'm sure this race is going to grow FAST. It was very, very user-friendly. Perfect for a beginner like my mom and fast enough to test your sprinting skills for those athletes who are up for racing. As a minor detail, this is my favorite race t-shirt this year so far, too.. the rest have been pretty obnoxious but this one is nice and simple and I'll actually wear it in public!