Kept an outside line to stay away from the group at the start. Started passing the wave in front of us after about 8 mins. Drafted off someone else in my wave for a little while before hitting the bridge. After the turnaround and back under the bridge the second time, the sun completely blinded me for the last two buoys. I had to take my goggles off to be able to see a few times! It got crowded at the end as well, so it was harder to maneuver.

I've done 25 minutes at this distance before as part of a relay, so I was a little disappointed to see 28 mins on my watch when I finished. Coming back into the sun and not being able to see made me nervous that I was going off-course, so I stopped to see where I was going way too much. Should have just put my head down and finished. Official time was 30:11 so the timing mat must have been closer to transition than I thought.

19/84. Not bad for me.

Nothing really.

I had no idea what to expect on Rock Creek Parkway and Canal Road since I didn't get a chance to drive it and you are normally not allowed to bike it. I figured there'd be some climbing on Canal since it was going up to the falls, but it was only slight. I was in my big ring the entire time. I passed more than I got passed, so I was happy.

I am surprised at my pace with all the turnarounds that I took VERY slowly, especially when others were around me. One lady crashed over a curb about 30 yards ahead of me since she took the turn too fast (luckily, she wasn't hurt).

Ate some shot blocks and made a consistent effort to drink my Luna Electrolytes.

Drive the course beforehand so I know what to expect.

The dismount line was not crowded at all, which was great. Clipped out and stopped completely and ran to my rack in my clipless pedals. Changed my shoes, put on race belt and visor, grabbed my bike bottle, and was off.

Nothing.

95+ degrees out, extreme humidity, and very little shade made for a very slow run. I tried to do run/walk intervals consistently but it was just too hot and I walked a lot. Stopped at every water station for water, powerade, and ice. Dumped ice water on my head at each aid station and put ice down my tank. Ran with my bike bottle and refilled that every chance I could. Cold sponges at one water station, so I took two and put them under my shoulder straps and tried to rewet them when I could. Just tried not to dehydrate and keep one foot in front of the other.

Make it 20 degrees cooler with no humidity.

Walked around at the finish and looked for my husband (never found him). Drank about 4 bottles of powerade and water and ate a banana. They had pizza, but that didn't appeal to me at all. Since the finish was about two miles from transition, had to wait in line for 25 minutes for the athlete shuttle to take us back to transition, which dropped us off at the WWII memorial about .75 mile away! My hamstrings were NOT happy with this. Once I got my gear, it was another mile back to a place where my husband could pick me up since the roads were still closed. Traffic was a nightmare.


The heat and humidity.


3,000 participants is a bit much for me since I don't like crowds and prefer smaller races. Logistically, the race itself was awesome with all the monuments but getting there and getting out of the city afterwards was challenging and not very athlete-friendly. This race is only going to get bigger in the future since it is such a great venue, which will make those logistics even worse.

Organizers were great and almost everything went off without a hitch. Very well done race. I'd do it again.