The warmup swim really helps me be more comfortable in the water. I was #149 so I did wait awhile but time went by fast. The girl in front of me was very nice and said she hasn't been in the pool in awhile so pass if needed. I got in the water and within 25 meters I was on her toes. She was at the wall so I turned and went under her to pass. I guess she realized this and picked it up so she repassed me. I am not sure what happened to her though because I passed somebody else and then there was noone in front of me for awhile. Then I passed 2 more people the last lap. This was my best swim by time but also I felt controlled and not too winded or out of breath.

Improved on the swim by 28 seconds from St Patty tri March 08.

Put down a faster time. I swam exactly the time that I signed up with but there are huge advantages of starting earlier.

Grabbed helmet, snapped it and took off.

Nothing

I had trouble getting on the bike at the mount line. Shoes was upside down and it almost made the bike flip. So I had to get off, then re-mount. Frustrating!

The 1st loop went very smooth. I saw a truck with tons of cones and realized they were just now placing the cones to block traffic. Kinda late but did not affect me. Tried to legally draft but seemed to be no one around. Passed bunches of people and was passed 2 times - I was able to pick up my pace and hang with some guy for about 2 miles on the backside with the hills until he finished and I went for loop 2. Took a Gu at about mile 8 just to give me energy for the run. Took feet out of my shoes and jumped off my bike.

Practice mounting the bike more!

I had a lot of trouble getting my shoes on and ended up having to sit down, take my shoe off and put it back on. It felt like there was a rubber band in my right shoe, but there wasn't. My feet were kinda numb from the cold air and I am sure that was the problem. Saw Pat come in, said something to him, and I felt like I was taking forever in T2. Finally grabbed Garmin, hat, race belt and took off.

Got good advice today to sit down immediately and put shoes on rather then trying to stand. Wasted at least 20 seconds here.

I started the run holding my Garmin and just followed the trails. I was hoping to meet my seasons goal of a 6:30 mile pace but I just could not get there. Normally I start strong and fade just a bit but this time I did not start as strong. I was able to make my last mile my fastest but not enough to pull off my goal. I saw Tommy, Todd, Buehler and then Pat on the run - they all looked strong and Todd even cheered me on. Pat made me lol - he told me that Todd was 3 minutes in front of me and Buehler was 2 and 1/2.
I paced behind a 40 something year old man who I passed then he picked it up and passed me back at the 2nd water station. He finished strong with me about 10 seconds behind him.

Cheered others on and hung out with the gang! Went back to transition and got a jacket and the camera. Chatted with Fitz, Buehler, Todd, Tommy, Craig, Matt and watched Spruce and Omar cross the finish line. Looked for Lindsay (PilatesTri) who started 200 people after me. I saw her starting the run and decided to run the course with her. It was fun to encourage her with her 2nd tri.

I improved my time from last March from 1:11 to 1:03 which I was happy about. I got 2nd overall female by 21 seconds. I just wonder if there was 21 seconds I could have shaved somewhere???


I liked these Dallas Athletes races. It is a fun atmosphere and the race is run smoothly. There seems to be lots of families there cheering on the athletes at the finish line!