Swim was uneventful. I aimed for the little island of trees, but as I neared the buoy, I realized that was too far right. So I had swum too wide.

On the way back, the current was pushing me to the right, so I had to work hard to stay on course. All in all, I felt my swim went well. I do wish it had been choppy, as I had really trained for that!

Since I didn't have a stopwatch, I set my computer to display time. That way I could be sure I was drinking and eating gels according to plan. So, I could not watch my average speed and try to keep it at 19mph.

I only carried my aero bottle plus one spare bottle on my down tube = 40 ounces. I was counting on the bottle handoffs.

I followed my plan and went easy for 30 minutes to let the Boost I drank in T1 settle. Then I picked up the pace a bit, worked up the hills, steady moderate pace the rest of the time. Whenever I was on a flat, I'd look at my speed and it said 20. yeah! At the 20 mile mark, I was getting low on water and hadn't yet seen a bottle handoff. I started to wonder if I had gone by one and missed it. So, I eased off on my pace and started to conserve water. The handoff came about 2 miles later. I needed to grab 2 bottles, and there were only a couple of volunteers standing right next to each other. I didn't have time to put one in the cage so just laid the first one on my aerobars, as I grabbed the second. Then I hit a bump, and my first bottle fell to the ground. I really needed both, so turned around and went back for another. That cost me about a minute.

After that, I picked up the pace again. At mile 30, my time was 1:30. I was excited at the prospect of beating a 3:00 bike split, so I started going kind of hard. Worked up the hills, went a little easier down the hills. I pretty much passed everyone I saw for the entire ride.

I thought of myself as a robot the entire bike ride. I imagined going up hills that I had to push a button to switch into climbing mode. Working harder up the hills. "work it, work it, work it" Then, on descents, I pushed another button to go into tight aero mode. "knees to the top tube, tight tight tight". This mental game was fun for me.

I was with a clydesdale for a good bit of the ride. I'd pass him going down because I can get so tightly aero, and he'd pass me going up (he was not a really big clydesdale). Then we caught up to another group. Going down one of the best descents, the group spread out and were blocking me. I actually had to hit my brakes. I can never understand why people lolly gag going down a hill! I was ticked me off, so I shouted blocking, and they moved out of my way. After passing them, I accelerated for a few minutes to get way ahead of them. Never saw them again after that, thankfully, as there was one more nice steep descent where I was really able to fly. My max speed was 44.8 :)

The last 10 miles was against a headwind. Not really strong, but enough to work hard. I hunched myself down into the tightest possible aero position and pushed hard. Probably a little harder than I should have, but maybe not. I wish I had my HR data to know. I was never breathing hard, and my leg muscles never burned, but I was working hard.

I passed alot of people during this headwind, mostly because I was tucked so tightly, and they were not. I kept wondering if I was pushing too hard the last bit, but also kept thinking how horrible the run was going to be, so I might as well have fun here on the bike. I think it was a good call.



Not forget my HR monitor watch.

I had forgotten to lay out my second tube of NUUN in transition, so as I ran toward the run start, I realized I didn't have it in my left hand. Crap, I could not run for 2+ hours in the heat without my planned electrolytes. So, I wasted a minute running back to get the one that was in my bike fuel box. That sucked. And, it turned out I didn't have enough NUUN.

The run course was hilly, hard, hot and did I mention hilly? It winds around in a double lolli-pop fashion that makes it hard to know where you are and how much farther you have to go. They usually have mile markers along the course, but they left them off today. I think to keep people from pushing themselves hard on the run.

I was actually glad not to know where I was during the run. No watch, no mile markers...I again used my "I am a robot" mantra and kept going no matter how badly I felt.

I was so thankful to see they had ice at the aid stations. I stuffed it down my bra at each stop (every 12 minutes). I filled my palm holder every other stop (which was probably every 25 minutes). I sometimes had to wait in line for water, as everybody was stopping alot.

Other than aid stations, I did not walk at all. I used my chi uphill running strategy for the harder climbs. I tried to pick up my pace on the downs. I tried to stay steady on the flats. When the sun came out, I allowed myself to ease up on my pace a bit. That's how I made the heat my friend. That actaully worked well.

I had to pee for the last hour of the bike. Tried to pee while riding. Then, I tried to pee my pants during the first couple miles of the run. No luck, just can't relax enough to pee in motion. So, I stopped at the porta potty on the run course, and it took me about 2 full minutes to empty my bladder. I felt bad for the guy waiting when I stepped out.

All in all, I kept up great mental focus and a positive attitude on the run. I was able to pick up my pace once I hit the final 1/4 mile stretch and finish strong. I was a little disappointed to learn my finish time was 6:13, not close to my elusive 6:00 goal. I thought I had run alot better than that. But I was still very happy after the race. In retrospect, my finish time and run split is really great considering the heat. I cut 12 minutes off my race time from last year, and I think most people got worse times.


About 3/4 of the way into the run, I ran out of NUUN tablets So, from then on, I had to use the E-caps they offered at the aide stations.

Also, it was kind of a pain getting the NUUN out and dropping them into my palm holder water bottle. I hadn't trained to be good at that little task. I either need to train for that, or train to use what they are offering on the course.

Jogged to the lake and waded in to cool off. I was so stiff, I had alot of trouble bending over to take off my shoes. Then my swim buddy, Deb, waded into the water wearing her shoes right in. What a genius!


HEAT, but that was out of my control.