Started to the back and left standing waist deep in the water rather than treading at the buoy. Helped me get started without being winded but meant I had to swim through and around the slower swimmers - should have swam over them but I am not that kind of person.

Felt good but got winded anyway and ended up alternating between freestyle, sidestroke and backstroke but got it done!

Trained a little more prior to the race - knew I could do the distance but had not done it enough to keep from getting winded. Maybe take advantage of an open water swim practice somewhere.

Get a wetsuit so that I have one in the event this is wetsuit legal again next year.

Used my asthma inhaler since I was winded from the swim. I put my bike shoes on (had rolled my socks so they went on fairly easily) - put my asthma inhaler and two bags of sports beans into my shorts pockets. Put on my Ryan's Quest shirt, pat knee strap on left knee, put on my helmet (buckled) and sunglasses and then had to make my way all the way from one end of transition to the other and up over the berm to get started on my bike. By the time I got there, I had horrible cramping in my legs.

try to run a little with my bike and at least practice walking/running longer distances in my bike shoes in the hopes to avoid the cramping. Drink some gatorade as I was making my way to the bike start line - taped the sports beans to my handlebar

Got clipped in easily and started pedaling but legs were seriously hurting and I already started with the "what the heck am I thinking" thought and doubting that I would be able to finish this. Kept going though. Drank some water gatorade and ate some sports beans on Hughes Drive despite having a hard time getting the package open and felt a bit better. Still mentally struggled on and off through the entire bike ride though. Not sure what was going on in my head but really had to find the motivation to keep going. Remembering that I am out here to raise money to help find a cure for Ryan was enough to keep me from quitting on the bike. Had some good moments and some bad moments. Very pleased with slipping my feet out of my shoes while still riding so that I was able to run into transition without my shoes on.

Really struggled with this bike ride although I did pass a few people but also got passed by others. If it weren't for Ryan of Ryan's Quest, I don't know that I would have finished.

Not struggle mentally. Make sure my seat is tightened so that it did not tilt up when I hit a bump. I might have to raise my seat up a bit too - but I truly hope I have a new bike in time for next year's race that really fits me.

I cannot believe how far my rack was from the bike dismount - yup as far as you can possibly get before leaving transition for the run. Could not catch my breath - think I had a panic attack but was so glad to see Mike and Bruce at my rack waiting for me to cheer me on. If it weren't for them, I probably would not have gone out on the run. The transition itself was not bad considering I was trying to just calm down and relax before heading out on the run.

Put on my running shoes, turned on my HRM footpod, grabbed my water bottle which had a bag of sports beans and chapstick in the pocket. Put on my white Nike hat and sunglasses - kissed my husband and headed out.

Avoid having a panic attack...maybe run or jog my bike back to the rack.

I knew I was going to start the run portion walking to stretch out my legs and I did.

I knew that I was going to have to walk most if not all of this run since I had still been having horrible pains in my lower legs when I run that decreases after about a mile. I drank some water and ate another bag of sports beans. Within a couple minutes of starting, I met Kate who also was walking. It was a wonderful experience to have someone else who was not able to really run the 5k. She and I had a similar walking pace and ended up walking the course together - encouraging each other and using my HRM info to get us to move faster when needed to keep our pace up. It was amazing having my sons and all our friends from Scouts at the run turnaround. It gave me a huge boost to get hugs and kisses from my boys. It was even a nicer surprise to come across Mike and Bruce who were headed down to walk back with me to the finish line. They were surprised to find they had to struggle to keep up with Kate and me. I was a little disheartened to have the olympic runners pass me and finish before me but there was little I could have done to prevent that this year.

Kate and I decided to jog down the finish chute and I am so glad to have her pictured next to me as we crossed the finish line. I am not sure I would have finished if it were not for the company.

Tried to run a bit more once my legs loosened up but I honestly wanted to finish the run portion with Kate and did not know that she would have been able to run the last mile or so. I would not necessarily change this experience but know for next year that I could probably run the last mile or so next time.

Need to recalibrate my HRM since it read 3.64 miles when the race was actually only 3.11 but not sure where they started the distance measurement on the course.

Definitely make sure I have my water and chapstick again.

Had a picture taken with Mike and then we walked up to transition to change out of my sneakers and put on my crocs but wish that I had brought my teva flip flops instead. Had blisters on my big toe and little toe on my right foot. We decided to pack up our stuff and bring it out to the car before getting some food.


Not training enough for the triathlon...while I was physically in better shape than last year, I did not spend enough time following my training plan. I am also about 15 pounds heavier this year than last and need to lose that weight!

As for the swim, I had not practiced in the danskin tri outfit with a sports bra underneath and think that it acted a bit like a parachute during the swim. The tradeoff to the one piece trisuit is that it does not drag but makes it VERY hard to go to the bathroom especially once I am wet from the swim or sweat.

Need to practice more bricks which I had done last year but not this year.


Overall, I am glad that I found it in myself to finish the triathlon and have to keep reminding myself of that accomplishment despite not meeting my goals for this year of running or beating my time from last year.

There's always next year. HR was still a bit high even a couple of hours after finishing. I am pretty sure that using my inhaler a couple of times did alter my heart rate a bit.