This was my first Oly, so I wanted to save some energy, and this was my first OWS, so there was some unknown there. I wanted to take it easy and not stress myself out. Everything I read said to stay at the edge, in the back. I did. I expected the field to thin out after a few hundred meters and I'd be able to find some open water and go for it. That didn't really happen, and I ended up caught behind some swimmers from my wave, and a wave in front of us. I didn't want to utilize a ton of energy and pass them, so I breast stroked to hang back a bit, and then went for it when it was convenient. I was suprised at how crowded it stayed through the whole swim. I should have started up front, and then I could have gone much MUCH faster.

I would have more confidence in my swimming ability. I could easily have come out of the water 5 minutes faster if I'd known I was that much better than most in my age group and started in the front.

Didn't wear a suit, even though it was actually wetsuit legal, which is odd for this race. This was such a large race that I'm not used to transition areas this large. I did ok for me. Put on sunscreen.

Nothing really. Just generally get faster.

Lovely headwind, we had. That wasnt' fun. It was my first Oly so I wanted to do my best, but not kill myself, since it was starting to get hot and I knew I had to save a LOT for the run. I did ok on the bike. Not fabulous, but not terrible. Hydration was a bit of a problem. I'd received advice to drink water through most of the bike, then switch to powerade to gear up for the run. I did what I thought was right, and had some Luna Moons, too.

I should have switched to powerade sooner. I was feeling fine on the bike (except for my back hurting, but for a girl who has had two back surgeries, I was just happy to be able to BE THERE AT ALL!) but later I'd learn I needed more electrolytes on the bike.

Long, large transition area. Got stuck behind some folks who were walking. Put on more sunscreen.

Nothing, really.

The first mile was hard, but it always is. The second mile was a little easier and I thought I was hitting a decent pace. Then I hit a wall. It was incredibly hot and humid and I'm not used to that. My hands got really swollen, my legs were a little weak and I ended up walking A LOT. I knew I was going to end up nowhere near 3:00:00, and then all of a sudden 3:15:00 looked out of reach, so I decided to just make sure I finished under 3:30:00 and not get hurt. My muscles wanted a gel, or some heed, or something, but my stomach would not tolerate it. I was a good 20 minutes slower on the run than I'd hoped for, but I made it through.

Figure out how much water vs. gels vs. powerade, etc. my body needs in those conditions. I had a plan, but it was clearly not working for me.

Walked around and tried to recover. Sadly I didn't know there was a shower tent... that would have helped a lot! Had a coke (which I haven't had in years!) and water.


The heat and humidity, and not knowing the right things to eat/drink in those conditions.


Someone suggested I keep my towel on the run because they run out, and I'm REALLY glad I did. And sadly by the time I crossed the finish line, there wasn't a heck of a lot of cold drinks left. Turns out I didn't WANT food, so I don't know what they had left. And I was really hoping to hear my name announced as I crossed, but I didn't. Maybe that's only for the earlier finishers that are actually in contention.