Anxiously awaited my wave start (10 of 10) so I had close to 30 minutes or more before we hit the water from the start of the swim waves. There was 4 minutes between waves. I felt the butterflies starting but was one of the first into the water and ended up at the front to the right but had to tread water for close to 3.5 minutes before the start - tired myself out and kept floating on my back to try to calm down. I was thrown off a bit when right before the start horn I saw one of the lifeguards jump into the water to save a flailing person from the wave before us then a fleet of kayaks sailed to help. I am glad they were able to help but it definitely frazzled me.

When the start horn sounded, I was off and think I started too quickly - no different than I usually do in the pool so I got out of breath and also was not sighting well and swam into someone and apologized but this was enough to through me off. After that, I had a hard time getting a good rhythm going and also found I was sighting to the high power line tower which from the beach looked to be in line with the buoy when in fact it was off to the right. Once I realized this mistake, I had an easier time staying on course. I did most of the swim to the turn doing sidestroke and a little backstroke. I ended strong doing freestyle from just past the buoy in to the boat ramp exit which hurt my feet - ouch! I wanted to be out of the water before the olympic waves started and think I heard them start the first wave as I hit the boat ramp.

Start closer to the back on the left where I can stand until right before the start...they do a count down and I would likely have enough space to start swimming towards the start line as the horn blows. Overall I think this would save me time because I would not be tired before I start. I also need to pace myself better so I don't go out so hard from the very start and so that I could do the entire distance freestyle. Overall, my time was still very good compared to my pool times so I am not disappointed.

Walked into transition from the swim just trying to catch my breath. Luckily for this part my bike was close to the swim in entrance so I did not have to run really far barefoot. Still hit some rocks that hurt my feet anyway. It was a little disappointing to arrive in transition and see almost all the sprint bikes gone but had to remind myself that some of the folks started their swim close to 45 minutes prior to me emerging from the lake. Took a small drink of water. I was glad to have an extra bottle of water to rinse off my feet and did sit down to dry my feet and put my socks and sneakers on. Put on my Ryan's Quest shirt, strapped on my knee strap, helmet (buckled too!), waist pouch with asthma medicine and a bag of sports beans, put on my gloves and sunglasses and unracked my bike to begin the long walk through transition to the bike mount (total opposite end from where I was)

Had two bags of sports beans taped to my handlebar, one large bike bottle with water and one small bike bottle with orange gatorade

Run in and out of transition. Maybe look at getting cycling shoes but falling with my feet clipped in scares the heck out of me. Maybe get those stretchy shoe laces so I don't have to tie my laces but it really did not take me long so I don't know how much time this would save.

Grab something to eat on the bike besides the sports beans but not sure this is absolutely necessary.

Not bad for my very first transition!

Had a good mounty on the bike and felt great riding out of the park, passed a couple of bikers but also got passed by a few others. Had to use my asthma medicine after the turn onto Hughes Dr but dropped my inhaler when trying to put it back into the waist pouch I was wearing because I had an extra bag of sports beans in there that got in the way. So, I stopped to pick the inhaler up - definitely needed it and did not want a penalty for abandonned items. The man on the bike I had just passed asked if I was okay. It was nice of him to check. He passed me and then I passed him back again shortly later. I was surprised to find my pace faster than it had been in practice runs but did not feel like I was pushing too hard. It was strange being out there though with so few other bikes. I kept wondering if there were any other people behind me because there were stretches when I saw no one in front of me nor anyone behind me. I kept reminding myself that I was there for me, not anyone else. It was nice actually not having to worry about passing too many or being passed too much. I made it through 4.5miles (which is my usual wallthat I have almost always experienced on training rides or even on the stationary bike at the Y) not sure what made it different but am glad I did not have to deal with it. I did have some right hip pain and cramps around my waist which improved after standing up and pedaling a little bit that way. I did drink gatorade and had some jelly beans at about 2 miles and was the first time I did both of those before the wall. I enjoyed the small hills and allowed myself a chance to rest just a little as I coasted partway down. I was so excited to get to 6 miles because I knew I was over halfway done. I did have numbness on the outside of my right foot again but stood up and stretched my right leg and also focused on driving with my heels more than my toes and it seemed to resolve itself. Coming down Old Trenton Rd, I got distracted when my foot slid out of the cage and almost crashed into the curb when trying to slide my foot back into the cage and then almost fell when I over-corrected to avoid the curb. It sure got the heart pumping more and am not sure how I avoided the wreck. I was so thrilled to finally make the turn into the park and coasted a little down the gentle slope before pedaling hard to the dismount line.

I am very pleased with my bike segment.

1.Take something to eat on the bike in addition to the jelly beans
2.Put gatorade into the larger of the two bottles
3.Coast a little less and pedalled more down the hills
4.Keep my feet in the pedal cage to avoid near crashes.
5.Get clipless pedals (argh that scares me)and an aero bar?

After dismounting, I walked my bike and my butt up over the grass berm to get to transition then walked the long walk through transition back to my bike rack at the far end. Good thing is that it is close to the out for the run. I had to move a bike racked next to mine to fit mine on. I got rid of my gloves, waist bag (remembered to take out my asthma and put it into my race belt) and almost forgot to take off my helmet but did remember when I went to put on my NikeFit baseball hat. I LOVE that hat-and I hate hats normally. I grabbed one more drink of gatorade and headed out on my run.

Run from dismount through transition

Headed out on the course actually running but had to use my asthma medicine again before I even got to the end of the section near transition. I walked and tried to relax my shins which were SCREAMING for about the first 1/2 mile. I finally gave in and stretched. A really nice competitor coming up behind me asked if I was okay and shared her water with me then poured some on the back of my neck. She and I walked a bit next to each other talking about Ryan's Quest but her pace was definitely faster than mine. I was really inspired by all the other competitors heading the other direction encouraging me. I was very happy to encourage them as well. It was also very cool to see all the Ryan's Quest team members on the course. I passed by Kristen and Kaley on their return leg and got some encouragement from them. Shortly after that I FINALLY came across Mike at the two miles to go marker for me (one mile left for him). He was such a sight for sore eyes and we stopped for a quick kiss. I was never so glad to cross over that little bridge to the picnic area and see friends from Pack 91 and my younger son Danny manning the water station. I got ice-cold water dumped on me by the boys and a couple of cups of cold water to actually drink. After crossing the timing pad and turning around I got a kiss and a hug from my son and headed back to the finish line. I saw a few people headed the other way and offered them the same encouragement I had gotten on my way out.About 3/4 mile from the finish,I was able to hear the music from the finish line and started getting choked up that I was really going to finish this. Then, I came across the olympic elite competitors headed out to the turnaround and I definitely did not want them to catch up to me and beat me in. They were so focused and had no words of support that I found it very disheartening. There was no one to pace myself to nor to pursue so I picked up my pace on my own and was somehow able to run the last 1/4 mile through the finish line. Hearing the cheers from the fans was amazing but even better was seeing Mike waiting by the turn to the finish line and hearing him cheer me on. He ran down to the other end to greet me as I finished. I heard them announce my name and chant "Randi, Randi, Randi" and "Ryan's Quest team" as I crossed the finish line. It was all very emotional and sort of that weird sensation that you hear things but not really. I was so focused on making sure I ran to the end. I even tried to remember to smile for the camera. (Can't wait to see that finish photo since I was still wearing my sunglasses which cover probably half of my face) Mike said we are buying the pictures regardless since we finished our first triathlons and only do that once. Hope they are available soon.

I received a bottle of ice-cold water, a finisher baseball hat and could not understand why this man stepped in front of me when all I wanted to do was hug my husband. This man wanted my timing chip. He bent down and unstrapped it after explaining to me why he was there. I had to laugh after that.

The only thing I wish were different was the finish clock. It had already been reset for the Olympic Distance time even though all the sprint distance competitors had not finished yet. I had an idea of my time since I was wearing my HRM watch and used the lap setting. Maybe they could have two timers - one for sprint and one for Olympic. Larry Redrow is so great with signs that I am sure he could make sure there would be no confusion as to which one was for which.

I finished...I really finished the entire thing. I AM A TRIATHLETE!!!!

1.Run more or all of the 5k!
2.Grab a bottle of gatorade or water to carry with me and a clif bar or something else to eat to take with me on the run
3. Ask for one of those cool, wet washcloths that I did not get offered nor did I know they were there until after the race was over. Funny thing is that I don't think I was overheating so I did not think to ask, A couple cups of cold water seemed to do the trick to keep me comfortable.
4. Not let the boys dump water on me to the point I end up with a puddle in my sneaker - squish, step, squish, step was not much fun nor very comfortable.
5. Have chapstick with me or apply before leaving transition. My lips were so dry and sore by the end of the race.

I was so emotional and really surprised by that. I walked with Mike over to the Ryan's Quest tent and got a big hug from Ron. I think I was the last of the team to finish. Mike and I walked around a bit and then tried to get back into transition from the swim side but they had it blocked off since the Olympic competitors were still heading out on their runs. We had to walk all the way to the opposite end to get back in. Once I got in there, I switched my hat for the finisher hat and love this one as much as my Nike hat! and got out of my sneakers and socks, took off my race belt and grabbed my cell phone and money. I moved my bike to same rack where Mike's bike was and packed up my stuff so that when we decided to take our stuff out of transition it was ready to go. We left our things there and headed back to get our lunch bag. There was lots of yummy things in there but I don't like italian hoagies so I bought a delicious grilled chicken sandwich. We went back to the Ryan's Quest tent to eat and hang out while waiting for the awards. Ron won first for the Clyde's Division! Yeah, Ron! After the awards, I had to go to the bathroom and that was an experience in itself. I had never tried to get my trisuit back on once I had it soaking wet. Luckily I was in the larger of the portajohns. I almost had to have Mike come in to help. That should be a leg of the triathlon all to itself. Man, I worked up a sweat. Next year, I definitely need a two piece tri suit! After the bathroom break, I called Jeanne out at the turnaround water station to see if they wanted us to head out there to help. They were getting hammered with the olympic distance runners. We grabbed our things from transition and after loading the car drove around to the east picnic area to meet up with them. As we were heading to the car, we heard sirens heading into the marina area and commented that we hated to hear that. By the time we got to the picnic area, several of the lifeguards and CGI employees had gotten there to help. We were able to encourage some of the last competitors through the final part of their run.

We headed home around 1pm, tired, a little sore but amazed by our accomplishments.




1.Run conditioning since I lost any base I had formed when I was diagnosed with runner's knee in early May.
2.Limited time on the road bike since we only got it a few weeks prior to the triathlon. Need to spend more time on the bike riding slightly harder routes with more hills.
3.Asthma medicine that I am not sure was controlling the asthma during the race. Need to talk to my doctor about a different inhaler to use during triathlons. I don't need the inhaler at any other times except during our training bike rides the couple of times before the race.
4. Numbness in the outside of my right foot during the bike ride - not sure if it is the bike seat, the pedal cage or my shoes but need to figure it out
5. Starting the swim treading water and not pacing myself better at the start of the swim so that I could not swim the entire distance freestyle


I am rating all my segments and transitions as "good" because for me to just finish them, that is good! Next year I will have something to compare it to and can be more selective on my overall rating!

I am so grateful that I was able to participate and finish my first triathlon and raise money for Ryan's Quest (www.ryansquest.org) all at the same time. Michele and Larry organize an amazing event and I am so glad this was my first triathlon. After learning about the one competitor who did not come out of the water and lost his life, I realize that just coming home safely and having Mike coming home safely is ultimately the biggest prize and would have been the prize even if we had not finished the entire triathlon. Hopefully someday I will be able to finish before Mike and cheer him on as he crosses the finish line. I am so proud of him!