Last week I wasn't too nervous about the swim. Looking at the bouys I knew that it was going to be long but that I could do it. This week I was much more nervous and unsettled before the swim start. I was expecting the lake to be a bit choppy this morning but it was actually somewhat calmer than last week.
Once the horn went off and I started swimming I pretty much relaxed right away. I was much more comfortable and relaxed during this entire swim than I was last week. None of the 'I hate this open water swim, triathlon isn't worth putting myself through this leg' thoughts. Last week I never found a rhythm at all. This week, much better.
The Relay teams started in the wave behind us so there were some good swimmers in there and they caught me pretty quickly. Shortly after making the first turn, I took a huge drink of water as I rolled to breath and one of the relay people went flying by. I had to stop and breast stroke for a while I tried to clear my lungs. Then I was off again. A few times as people would pass me I'd think that might be a good set of feet to catch but decided that since I was in a decent rhythm and in a good place mentally that I wasn't going to attempt to stay on a draft. Last week I drafted for most of the long portion of the triangle but it definately contributed to me not being able to settle into my own rhythm. I am still very new at this open water swimmng thing and need to continue to learn as I go.
Shortly after making the second turn I got kicked in the face. It wasn't hard enough to hurt but I lost my nose plugs. I do not swim without them. Now there was no breathing to my left. I had been mainly just breathing to my right with an occasional bilateral. That was out of the question now. It also affected how I sighted as I could feel the water getting into the sinuses when I put my head back into the water after looking up. I had problems navigating this last section into the dock just like I did last week. The current didn't seem to be as strong this week but I was still having problems. Heard another guy talking about the same thing afterwards and realized that he was right in that if you sighted off from the swiggly guy you were going to be quite a bit left of where you needed to exit. I kept going too far right and swimming back left. Point to remember next year is to just let myself go right and if I end up too far then just swim back left to the dock at the end. I probably zigzagged way more then I needed to.

Overall I was quite happy with this swim. Once we got started I was much more relaxed with a better more consistent stroke than last week and that is exactly what I was looking for.

Remember to wear nose plugs with the neck strap when in the open water.

Wetsuit came off better this week. Last week was a 7:07 T1. Talked to Suzy last night about how to get this thing off and her suggestions did help. I also used Pam instead of Body Glide which seemed to work better. Last week I developed a nasty blister on the back of my left heel. This transition was a bit long because I had to get a band aid on that before I could put my socks and shoes on. Of course the band aid didn't want to stick since I was wet. I'm glad I took the time to get it right though because the blister ended up not being a problem at all today.
Since we registered late we had the longest run with out bikes both into and out of transition. The upside of that was it sure was easy to find out spot.

Need to continue to work on getting the wetsuit off. Suzy suggested that I cut it but not sure I'm willing to do that yet.

Wanted to have another strong bike ride today. Last week people really complained about the wind. I'm not sure which week was worse. Craig said it affected him more last week. I think it was a maybe a little stronger steady headwind this week but not nearly as gusty and didn't have the cross winds.
Having ridden the same course last week made this week easier. I may have ridden with slighly less push this week but only by a hair. For the first 10 miles there was a girl in my age group that I kept leap frogging with. I knew that the wind would start at about mile 12 and stay with us for pretty much the rest of the ride and didn't want to get into an all out race with her as we pushed each through the entire ride so I let her go. I caught her at mile one on the run and passed her for good.
Since today was hotter than last week I took an extra water bottle and was glad that I did. Got very concerned because I always drink a lot and pee a lot. Last week I took in less fluid and peed three times during the bike leg. Today I did not pee at all and never felt like I had to. Mixed my Infinit at normal strength, the concentrated bottle approach has been a complete failure for me. Consequently my stomach was happier today. Ate my pretzels and a Cliff Bar.

Bike split shows a bit faster this week but that is only because last week I lost a good five minutes to mechanical problems. Very happy with this ride. Wanted another strong ride and to see if I could match last week. Mission accomplished. My next HIM I'll have to attempt sub 3 on the bike.

Not much. I was very happy with this ride.

Long run with the bike to my transition spot. Was happy that the band aid had stayed in place. Thought I might have to re-do it in T2 but slipped my running shoe on and it felt OK so off I went.

It was hot out there. I knew that between the heat and the way I was already feeling that a quality run was out of the question today. When I was in T2 I told Jeannette "I an NOT running, expect me in about 2:10" She kept giving me that look like she didn't believe me so I told her a couple more times "I am not running" (maybe I was trying to convince myself) Anyway, as I 'ran' out of transition another lady that was standing there said "see, you are running, you're doing great". It struck me as funny. Jeanette knew that what I meant was I wasn't about to run a 1:50. Yes, I'd be running, just not fast.
The last thing I wanted to do was run the first 4 or 5 miles hard and then do the death march for 8 or 9 miles. It was easy going from the first mile and walking through each aid station. Got to the first aid station and was totally dissappointed to find they didn't have the ice towels that we had last week. This week we needed them even worse. I commented last week that the volunteers at this race were rather inattentive. This week it was even worse. Since I was walking through the stations it didn't bother me quite as much. I don't know what the reason was for the missing ice towels but it could have been lack of volunteers. There were not very many of them. They also didn't have coke at all of the stations. It worked well for me last week so I thought I'd try it sooner this time but they didn't have it.
Considering the conditions I felt pretty good about how this run was going. I was taking it slow and easy but was relatively comfortable until about mile 8 when I could feel my body starting to succumb to the heat. Several aid stations in a row did not have any ice. The water was HOT and I was having problems forcing myself to even sip it. There was no way to cool yourself down and there is no shade on this course. I told myself to keep it slow but keep running until mile 10. Then I had permission to walk in the last three miles with no regrets. I had nothing on the line today and was not going to risk a heat issue. However, at mile 10 the ice angel showed up. I took a glass of just ice and another of ice water and walked for probably 2-3 minutes to see if it would cool me down. I felt much more refreshed and was a happy girl. This was the only time I walked, other then just through the aid stations, all day. I was very happy that I didn't get reduced to joining the walking dead of which there were many out there today. Mile 12 was into a very strong head wind. I remembered from last week that I couldn't wait to turn that corner and get out of the wind, but then it is extremely hot. The wind was stronger this week and I knew the heat was coming but I also knew that I was almost home and that it was going to be an incredible feeling to not only have completed my first HIM but also my second one in just two weeks.

Probably not much I could have done differently today that would have made much of a difference.

Crossed the finish line. The volunteer didn't like the way I looked and wanted to continue to walk with me. Jeannette was there so she let her take me. I went immediately to the lake and got in. It wasn't hardly cold enough to even cool my body temperature down. We hung around, I ate some red beans and rice, a banana, some oreos and a while later had my recovery drink. Drank lots of water. Stayed through the awards ceremony. Suzy took first place in our age group. She was just under 5:30. Awesome day for her. Went back to the hotel, showered and headed home.

Many thanks to Craig for agreeing to do this second half with me (he also did very well again) and to Jeannette for always being there to support us.


The heat and having raced last weekend.


May do the two halfs again next year on back to back weekends but if I do, I'll plan it that way rather than doing one and then deciding to do the second one.