The water was cool enough to make me a little short of breath - or maybe it was the nerves. I expected to breeze through the swim but didn't. I just felt like I was hardly moving and just couldn't get the hang of flip turning and gliding under the lane guide to the next lane over. The lanes were wide enough to swim 3 abreast - good, since I seeded myself too high and was getting passed like crazy. I used the stairs at the end to climb awkwardly out of the pool.

Speedy Feet missed my pool and T1 splits. All I know is that they took 14 minutes overall when I'd hoped for 9.

Warm-up. Practice the flip/lane guide bit. Skip the stairs and climb out like I usually do.

My shirt rolling strategy backfired. I pulled on the pre-rolled suit, but when I went to unroll it down my body - I had rolled it UNDER!!! I was now trapped in my shirts with a huge sausage-roll glued to my armpits and shoulder blades. I think I had a 7-8 minute T1 wrestling that damn shirt. No way was I riding with my freezing white belly hanging out in the wind! I wrestled my bike out from the rack and clunk/jogged out of T1. I had to stop and do my usual psych up to get myself on the bike and clipped in. I had new pedals and was having trouble getting my right foot unclipped, so one of my main race goals was not to fall over sideways stuck to the bike.

Pre-roll correctly. Eat the GU on the bike. Learn to do a running start - or even just a faster less terrified start.

One of my race goals was not to fall over stuck to my new pedals. When I saw the first monster hill, I didn't think I had the ability to make it to the top, so I caved, unclipped at the bottom and trudged up it. I made the rest of the hills, no problem.

I'm still scared when the bike gets over 20mph. I rode the brakes down most of the hills because I can't forget what a 10mph spill did to me 20 years ago.

It was really depressing to see all the road bikes blitz by me at I swear the same cadence.

I did pass a couple of folks. Mostly, they passed me right back...

Learn how to get out of my seat for hills. Practice hills. Get more comfortable with speed.

Road bike, not a clunky hybrid.

Someone racked their bike from the other side where mine was supposed to go. My handlebars hung up on the rack support again. The rack was pretty well full of bikes...

I choked down a GU and tried to drink some water. Choked. Changed shoes, coughing. Ran out of T1, coughing.

Learn to drink water while out of breath.

I waved to my family as I left T2. It turns out the most important prep I did for them was to describe what I was wearing to race in. Even with that, they didn't recognize me until I waved to them!

I ran at around my standard workout pace. I didn't have jellylegs, but I just couldn't seem to pick up the pace.

Each time I picked up water, I had to walk and still almost choked, due to being out of breath.

A few times I heard "Go Cincy!" greeting from fellow team members as they passed me on their return. That was quite a charge. I passed a couple of people. That was a charge, too. I didn't expect that.

As I came into the final chute, I could hear the race director announcing names and sometimes their times. Then I saw my family and heard them yell and saw a Cincy Express group watching and cheering. For the first time, I was able to accelerate and felt like I actually RACED through the finish line!

Run more so I keep getting faster. I still need to work on drinking. Who knew drinking from a cup could be so challenging?

I paced around a few minutes. My family walked up ready to chat. I was so overwhelmed, I couldn't even put sentences together. Just couldn't think.

I got my after race bag. Underwhelming. Apple, orange, granola bar, PB crackers, water, maybe a banana. The 3 and 5 year old promptly laid claim to the apple and orange. I refused to share the water and granola bar. No one wanted the PB crackers...

Note to self: Pack after race bags for each kid.

I checked in with the Cincy Express cheer squad and got my temporary results. I finished in under 2 hours!! I wasn't last!! Woo hoo!!

I cleaned up in the locker room. That was the BEST shower I have ever had.




I'm just a beginner. I'd only been running and cycling for 3 months each, with very little road time. I really didn't know how to pace a tri or how hard I could push and still be able to finish without walking (one of my goals)

-need to be able to flip and push off under the lane guides for this swim.
-just climb out of the pool, skip the stairs
-getting my shirt stuck in T1
-slow bike start because I'm still learning how to clip in and out.
-need better hill ability.
-lose fear of downhill speed
-don't choke (literally!)
-push harder on the run




The most annoying thing was waiting for race results. I thought I'd see them posted online by Saturday night. It was days and then the splits were messed up. Some folks didn't get any. For me, I didn't have swim or T1 splits. Also, the overall ranking included relays, which I didn't think was right. The race forum was full of complaints about the timing mess-ups. New timing company, first race of the season, apparently...

My goals were:
finish without injury.
finish under 2 hours, aiming at 1:45.
don't finish last overall or in my age group.
don't fall over stuck to the damn pedals
ride not walk most of the hills.

I made all my goals! I finished at 1:53. If I hadn't gotten my shirt stuck in T1 and spent 5 minutes wrestling with it, I think I would have nailed my 1:45 estimate.