I started in the front of our wave, the 5th and last wave. Took off HARD the first 200-300m, trying to get away from the pack. It was easy to do as it was a small race, small wave. I let my heart rate settle then as I settled in to a pace, looking for feet to draft. Never found any, so I just swam, popping my head up every 3-5 strokes to sight. I tend to veer to the right, and I was...every time!

The sun was up but not directly in our eyes as we swam out, across and back in. The water was brown but didn't taste too icky ;) As we exited, we had to run a little bit through the sand then up a big hill to transition. I believe our swim time includes this run.

I could have pushed it harder. I was not very focused here and my mind was wandering..thinking about random stuff! Next race I will push it a bit harder.

I am happy with this...by the time I got to my bike and was putting my garmin on, my heart rate was near 170 from the adrenaline and the run up the hill! I got in and out pretty quick.

not much.

This was a beautiful course...though more challenging than what I ride in flat South Florida! I passed a lot of people going up the hills, keeping a high cadence spin and smooth cicles. Toward the end I had to get out of the saddle a few times, but my knee was hurting and I was afraid I'd wreck it if I pushed while seated.

The downhills were FUN!!!!!! I tried to get as much speed as I could - hitting around 40 mph on several occasions :) There was very little traffic, roads were smooth and it was country. I really, really liked this bike course, even if I was cursing the last few hills. Nothing was BIG, but it seems the rolling hills were pretty constant. Some you didn't even realize you were on until you started going down - cuz what comes up, must go down, right?!

My chain came off just before I started to climb a small hill...I knew it was going to do that too, as I was in the big ring, small cog and went to shift to the small ring. Had to stop and pop it back on as I watched someone I was chasing take off :( Not a big deal though - lost maybe a minute. I never did catch here though!

There was a woman I was playing leap frog with for a bit who passed me and settled in comfortably behind a guy up ahead. She hung on his wheel for about 5 mintues...then an older couple on a motorcycle came by, and I KNEW as soon as she heard the motorcycle she was going to either drop back or pass him and low and behold...she heard them coming and took him over. I was so mad. Cheater. If I had caught up to her, I was going to tell her "You know drafting is cheating, right?" I think she was in the Aquabike or Duathlon, though, as she didn't appear in the results ahead of me, and I know I didn't run past her on the run.

Spend a few more quality weekends training up in Clermont on the hills. Overall, I think I did pretty well. I rode a smart race, keeping the half mary in mind and not going tooooo hard.

Again, I had a pretty fast transition...I'm usually slow!!

Started out chasing a woman in my age group who sneaked by me in transition!! First mile was an 8:00 and I knew that was too fast for me to start, so I backed off and settled in to a pace I felt I could hold. My right quad was starting to CRAMP..I stopped to stretch it and then the hamstring started so I knew I couldn't stop anymore. I realized this was going to be a run in my head! I told myself to suck it up and ignore the pain and not give in to the cramping. It worked :)

I was pretty uncomfortable most of this run. I had to go potty for a good part of it (BOTH), was cramping and felt like puking. I saw another one of my coach's athletes that was there with us on the turn around about mile 4.5 I think it was and tried to keep him in sight...he was looking good! I caught him about mile 9, which was the toughest point for me and I walked a minute...took in more water and picked it back up. I got him at mile 11, where he was walking and said he thought he might vomit. I encouraged him to run - just 2 miles to go - and next thing I knew he was there. We ran together to the end and held hands as we crossed the finish line :) A good photo finish!!

Again, this course was nice...lots of tree lined streets and some shade. The aid stations were some of the best I've seen!

I need to work on my electrolytes. Too much salt on a non humid day and I bloat. I think I was way under my sodium needs, as it really heated up on the run, and I had large chunks on my arms and legs when I finished. Hence, the cramping. I had a 2 hour and 1 hour bottle of Infinit on the bike, plus 4 GU...then had 5 or 6 GU and water on the run. Put some electrolyte drops in my water that I took on the run, but I don't think it was enough. I'll work on this this summer!

Did some light stretching, chugged a water and cold COKE - YUM. Went to the medic tent for some peroxide for my ear...The lake left me with an earcache! Took a bath in the hose :)


I could use more hill training and I think I need to work on my electrolytes.


Loved this race. It was low stress, a really pretty course, good prizes and awards. My coach took 5th overall, 1st in masters and his AG...and won $200 bucks! They had close to a $5,000 purse for the top 5 overalls! Nice! Top 3 in Age Groups received cute little guitar trophies. Food was plentiful - chicken sandwhiches, fruit, cookies and bagels and I think they had free beer. I will be putting this race on my calendar for next year!