The start was in kind of a tight chute so the first half of the way to the first buoy was very crowded. So glad I've been doing speed circuit so that I've gotten at least somewhat accustomed to swimming with a lot of other people because I didn't freak out. Just kind of tried to keep my head up and move forward. About halfway to the first buoy it opened up enough that I could actually swim and right away I concentrated on just swimming my best, couldn't go too fast as there were still a lot of people in the way.

After I rounded the first buoy things cleared out a bit more and I was able to concentrate on puting as much power as I could behind each stroke, I started passing some people in my wave and some from the wave before. By the time I rounded the second buoy it was even more clear and I just tried to go as fast I could, passed someone on the inside as we were rounding the 3rd buoy which kind of made me feel like a jerk, but it's not like it's easy to get around people in the water. A lot of people swam straight after the 3rd buoy but we were supposed to round the last buoy on the inside before turning in so I aimed inwards and was able to pass some more people on my way in (thanks to the gladstone's swim which changed the course almost every week so you're forced to practice sighting). Heard the announcer guy say "and here comes the first women's wave" which made me feel good, although looking at the times I see that I wasn't the first of my wave. Whatever.

Started running as soon as I got out of the water (thanks again to the speed circuit) and ran all the way to my bike.

Probably nothing, could have tried to start a little closer to the front of the pack I guess, but otherwise I'm very happy with my swim performance. I didn't freak out or have any real anxiety for the first time in a tri (besides a little race day nerves), I think all the ocean swims have really helped me get accustomed to just getting in the water and going right away no matter what the environment.

I had a really good transition I think, maybe too good. I found my bike quickly thanks to the flag people, put on my socks and shoes while standing, grabbed my race belt and put it on, then gloves, then sunglasses (all of which were waiting in my helmet hanging off my bike). Was going so fast that when it came time to put on my helmet and it wouldn't fit over the bun I put my hair in for the swim, I just JAMMED IT ON MY HEAD because I was in the groove and didn't want to waste time fixing my hair. I would come to regret this very soon as I still have a bruise on my forehead.

FIX MY HAIR, or figure out a way to put it up under the swim cap that doesn't get in the way of the helmet. I think I figured this out for big rock because I had a similar problem at Ironbruin, but I don't remember what I figured out.

I thought this ride went pretty well, I don't think it was a full 11 miles though so my pace was probably a little slower than this. Started out pretty hard as soon as I got on my bike and it took a couple of minutes for my heart to slow down after transition. I actually passed Monica! Although she passed me later on one of the flats. I definitely need to get aero bars soon because I just can't keep up with a lot of people without them, especially on the flats.

About 4 miles in my head really started to hurt so tried to fix my helmet. I really didn't want to actually get off the bike, so I tried to pull my hair out from under the helmet, didn't really work, so I just kind of pushed it up so it wasn't resting on the biggest part of my head anymore. Probably not the safest position, but my head was killing me.

Thought I fixed the grinding noise problem in the lower gears when I got the new derailleur, but I didn't (took it in to Helen's tonight to be fixed for real). I felt really self conscious in the lower gears because of it and definitely didn't use them like I should have on the hills. It was a short course and there were no really big hills so I don't think it hurt me too much but it could have been better.

Nothing, I think I took it just right. I went out hard but not so hard that I couldn't maintain the pace and was killing myself.

Took a little bit more time to find my spot since the flag bike was gone. Found it, racked the bike then started kicking myself for not untying my shoes beforehand. I was standing there for like half an hour and it didn't occur to me. So I just sat down and pulled on my shoes rather than wrestling with them while standing on one foot. Peeled off the gloves and threw them down with the helmet, grabbed my visor and started running.

Untied my shoes beforehand.

This run could have been a bit better, I felt really slow just off the bike but that's pretty usual. I started having some side pain about a mile in but that went away, grabbed the water at the first two water stations, drank all the first one, and half at the second and poured the rest on my head. About a mile and a half in the side pain came back and it was bad. I ran with it as far as I could but though maybe if I walked for a bit it would go away. I walked for about 30 seconds but people started passing me left and right including some like 9 year old kid and a girl I'd been playing cat and mouse with earlier. I went "oh ef this" and started jogging again.

The pain came back almost right away but if I kept my head up it was just slightly better. I tried to keep thinking of all those stupid "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" mantras, since I knew I only had about a mile to go at that point. Continued to get passed, but at a slower rate than when I was walking, and I passed a few guys too. Near the end you had to go up a hill on a trail (thank you friday night trail runs) and for some reason my side felt better going up the hill. I hit the top, which was a flat paved stretch and slowed down a bit I think because I got passed by the earlier cat and mouse girl just before the final turn into the final stretch.

This brought flashbacks to Big Rock where this girl was trailing me the whole 10k until the last like 100 feet when she blew by me and I had nothing left to try and catch her. I decided that this was not a habit I wanted to get in to so even though I would have been perfectly happy jogging it in at my current pace I went "oh hell no, you have to do this" and tried to pick it up. I passed her and finished not really with a sprint but with a lot more energy than I'd had for the last mile. I could hear people cheering down the chute, I didn't see Dolores' daughter Camile or her dad, but I think I heard Matt, but at that point I couldn't look around I just focused on finishing.

Cat and mouse girl finished just after me and we high fived as we took off our chips. She told me "nice job" and I congratulated her back and told her I couldn't have finished like that without her.

Get some more bricks in, I know I could have run faster without the side pain.

Saw Monica right after I finished, told her congratulations, saw Matt at the finish area and followed him to the free redbull people. There was no food there which was a bummer. Walked over to the chute to cheer people on for a bit, then went back to the finish to grab my participant medal (everyone's a winner :)!), checked the results posted, was totally stoked with my time and made it back to the chute to cheer in Dolores.


Not enough bricks, slightly stupid occasional decisions like jamming my helmet on and not untying my shoes, little things.


Overall a very good race and I'm very happy with my performance. It was nice to have a race that was so close, it was pretty organized, although they did start a little late. The volunteers at the water stops were awesome with the cheering. It's been so long since I raced in my tri club gear I forgot to cheer on fellow clubbers until a couple of people gave me encouragement. It's always nice to have both spectators and people on the course giving you an extra shout out.