Was standing in the water and after having been told they'd announce the course to us before the start, and had my back to the course, talking to people, and all of a sudden the gun went off! No "ready, set, go"--nothing! Bang! So I had to collect myself and get moving. I was in the front on the inside, and next thing I knew, Gailg was climbing up over me!!! Ha! (As she later said, better her than someone else, I suppose!)

I was scrambling to get going, and my heart rate and breathing were immediately out of control. I wanted to stay at the front, but thought this was setting a bad tone for the day, and I wanted to feel more comfortable, so I gave myself permission to slow down and collect myself. Then I got into a nice groove--long easy strokes, 3 strokes to 1 breath. Just like a training swim (as evidenced by the training swim pace I raced!)

It was a lovely swim, but certainly not a race swim for me. I really enjoyed it!

Uh, pay attention?

This transition was L-O-N-G!!! It was an uphill run on pavement, and my little tootsies were KILLING me, between being cold and kinda swollen for some reason, oh, god, I was in agony running up there. If you could call it running! I stopped about 5 times to stand on other people's towels that were near the chute. Once I got up there tho, I saw about 5 of the people on my rack, so that was comforting to know I hadn't lost a ton of time. They were all on their butts trying to pull off their wetsuits. Me, I just ran in, pulled on my socks and cycling shoes, donned my helmet and glasses, and off I went. (I am glad of my decision to abandon my wetsuit for good. Just not necessary!) Oh, and I ate a gel/gu packet.

The bike mount was on an uphill, and being out of breath and out of sorts, it was hard to get clipped in. Fortunately, there was alot of room, so I rode sideways a bit, flat, just to get myself in. Going up hill while trying to clip in is difficult.

I have to get some crocs or something, to leave at the bottom of transition runs like this. Had the same problem in San Diego both times.

OK, water was beind me, mountains ahead... time to recalibrate the brain and prepare for the next task at hand.

Looking at last year's results, I knew that I had to keep my average bike pace at 9-11mph in order to get on the podium, and that no matter how slow my run was (within reason), I could get on the podium as long as I kept to 9-11mph. Knowing that the first 4 miles was rolling, I planned on getting my ave mph up as far as possible, so as it slipped on the climb, I'd have room.

The rollers were great, got up to 25 mph several times for several good stretches. There were some short steepish climbs on these rollers, but I was devoted to getting up and over them as fast as possible so I'd have room to take it easy on the big climbs at the end.

By the time I got to the base of the climb, I was at 11.6 mph average. So only time would tell if I'd get to the top above 9.

Strangely, surprisingly, I didn't suffer at all on the big climb. It just wasn't as bad as it seemed in the car. I'd say it was roughly equivalent to Amalfi, which I climbed thrice weekly for months prior to the race. So I was good to go on the climb.

Got to the top at 9.6 or something like that, and knew I had done it! Was so pleased to have a plan and make it happen!

Nothing. I was good with this. Prob could have given it a bit more on the climb, but I kept saving it, thinking it was going to get horrible any minute.

Another long transition chute, but it went fine. Ran in--so excited about the bike. Saw Macca run in RIGHT in front of me; he was racing for our team, so he was racked in our area. It was a boost to have him there. Gave the ego a little kick.

I don't even remember taking off my cycling shoes! I just remember running out of the T2 so happy and excited. And I ate another gu/gel packet.

Probably do alot more bike/run bricks in the 2 months leading up to the race. I was REALLY lazy about it this time.

It was 9am by now and it was starting to get warm; almost hot actually.

I set off and got about a half mile in, and started to feel like I didn't want to run at all. It wasn't a bonk, just my legs were not feeling it after that climb. I couldn't believe it, but for the first time ever: I walked in a race! I let myself walk about 5 times, for about 30 secs each, and I stopped dead on both of the 2 water stations. I was a little disappointed, but still felt that with my bike ride, I was ok overall.

I'm still kinda disappointed at this slow pace, especially knowing how fast I've been running lately at home.

Not really sure. I think it's just a matter of fitness level.

They had ice cold bottles of water at the finish, and I just sat down in the finish area and chugged it...the whole thing. They also had ice cold wet towels, so I toweled my head, face and neck. THAT was refreshing!

Then I went and had a free massage...that felt good too!

Other than that, no warm down.


Being overweight!!!


I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed this race, considering how long I've been worried about it!

The LA Tri Club ended up winning the National Championship title, and it was really fun to not only participate but be able to contribute to the point count with a podium finish!