This was the weakest event of the day....I had a little panicky feeling during the first 1/4 of the swim....couldn't get my HR down....although I didn't stop swimming--just breathed every other stroke to increase oxygen and relax. I wasn't nervous at all so I don't know what the cause of that was. I was also terrible with navigation. It was pretty wavy, but I am used to swimming in choppy lakes, so not sure what happened. One minute I'd be zigging, the next zagging.....wah. The second lap was better but still not great. I was pretty out of breath by the time I got to T1.

Be a faster swimmer! Swim straight, for pete's sake!

I was racked near the swim in, so I had a long way to run with the bike. Wetsuit came off fast, which was good. I had to catch my breath for a few seconds, which I think slowed me down.

Nothing, really. it was pretty good.

I felt pretty good on the bike, although probably could have pushed a wee bit harder. The winds were wacky--sort of strong now and then and some sideways. Between mile 9 and 11 a rain squall came through and dumped on me, pelting since I was moving through it....but it kept on going and stopped being a factor pretty quickly. Early in the ride I hit the one big bump in the entire road and had some discomfort in the nether regions for the rest of the ride. Mostly it was a good ride, didn't get passed but once or twice, and passed a few folks.

More bike training!!

I had one of the faster T2 times. Woo!

Nothing!

My feet were asleep for the first mile (need to figure that out/bike shoe issues, I guess)....but I had a good pace and kept it up, all miles were under 9 minutes/per even though after the turnaround I got severe intestinal cramping which I have never experienced in a race. It lasted for a mile or so and then subsided. I wish the course had only been 10k....I am confident in my Garmin's measurement as it was exactly the same distance to and from the turnaround.

Just go faster, but I feel like I did really well. I walked through the water stations.

Saw some friends, got my award, ate a bite of food and watched the sprint finishers.

It was great to change into warmer, dry clothes. Having cool weather and rain in Moses Lake at this time of year is super rare. I was ready to race and melt in the heat, and that proved to not be a factor at all.


This is going to be an annual event. Besides a great race, Lynne and I had so much fun on our road trip!! Visited friends, were fed and given places to sleep, saw gorgeous mountains, played in the snow, explored a wind farm....so much fun!

My performance this year was FOURTEEN MINUTES FASTER than last year, with improvements evenly spread across all three events. I think following a good off season plan as well as pretty much doing all of the workouts in my Olympic plan helped a lot. Also sleeping the night before the race and proper hydration and warm up really helped as well. Thankfully both the lake and air temps were mild. Can't wait to do next year. I've set the bar high for myself!!