That was scary. I've always been a fish in water (not fast, just extremely comfortable) but I felt more like I was trying to survive than swimming. I had to stop and breaststroke many times to be able to figure out where I was going and catch my breath. My legs started cramping like crazy in the last few minutes and on the way to T1.

I found out after the race that something had bitten me on the back of the neck at the hairline....I noticed a strange burning sensation coming out of T1. Later, the medic said it looked like a bite.

Probably needed more hydration and salt. I will look into salt tabs before the next race.

My legs were so cramped that getting the suit off was difficult. This was my first HIM, so I was more worried about keeping myself together than T1 time.

I tried to put on a long sleeve jersey and it wasn't working very well. Next time I'll either where what I'm wearing for a shirt on the bike under my wetsuit or use a zip-up jacket instead.

I also stopped to put on my riding gloves which took forever. I'll have to post on tips & tricks for this one, or maybe people just don't use them during the race?

I'm just not a fast or confident biker. I knew this coming in and that was the big challenge with the HIM for me. Halfway through the bike leg, I was moving my bottles around from one cage to another and the next thing I knew, I was skidding across the road on my side. Ouch. Several races stopped to make sure I was okay--that was so kind of them, and that really helped me to move on and finish despite my bloody road rash.

Not fallen!! I need to train more outside on the bike and get out of the spinning studio!!

At that point, I was trying to figure out if I had injured my calf in the fall. A volunteer offered to take me to the medic but I decide to just start running and see how it went. If I was injured and had to DNF, so be it. It took awhile to regroup so I'm not that disappointed with this T considering what had happened.

Again, not fallen off the bike, shaken myself up and been crying!

Once I was a few miles in, I knew I hadn't sustained any injuries from the fall beyond road rash. I still didn't know if I could make those 13 miles. I'm used to running a half marathon at an 8:15 pace but had no idea how much slower I'd be after finishing that 56 mile ride. I knew I'd be humbled, but my legs could barely hold me up those last few miles, let alone run.

I trained for this HIM, but I just didn't realize how hard it would be to do a 3 hour bike ride followed by a 2 hour run. I don't think I could've trained any better or harder for the run portion. I really feel this was the best I could do at this stage of my triathlon career.

After I crossed the finish, I collasped with my loved ones at a picnic table and tried to force down water and a Clif bar. I hadn't peed the entire race (I had the urge around mile 4 of the run but it went away). I actually left the park, drove home an hour and realized that I never did pee since race start. Ugh.


Simply, not enough experience with these distances.


Overall, I'm glad I finished. Kenny and the 3D guys did a great job especially considering the T-storms trying to get out of our way in time to race. We only started 30 minutes late and the storms were gone for the day.