Swim canceled

Swim .6 miles in this?


We were just notified by the Greenfield Town Health officials that due to the recent heavy rains we will not be able to hold the swim portion of the triathlon. The heavy rains increase both the coliform count and the turbidity (clearness) of the water.

Ran to transition with other women, at back end of pack..no surprise. Didn't want to get my HR to high

Good transition, but forgot to take race number off..we needed it for run #1 but it makes noise riding,took it off and put it in one of my tri top pockets.

Plan: 10' moderate then do it like TT pushing zone 4/5 whole way. My thought was to back off last loop a little so I could see if it would help me run better. From training I should be able to hold 165-180 watts for time...my power meter on my training wheel and Zipps measure slightly different.

Bike X4 with run most same but slight difference around mile 5 for about a mile



Out of transition did my cross mount..passed a bunch of women, but many all started to hammer hard and go hard up the hill, I down shifted and spun up plenty of race ahead of me.

Rode with goal to keep watts even..and not spike going up hills which means a VI (variability index) of as close to 1.0 as possible. Folks pass me up hills but on crest and down hill I pass many of them back. I kept my watts pretty even with VI of 1.05 with ~1000 feet of climbing per 7.56 miles...very pleased.

I was riding my cassette I plan to use in Canada..weird brand 11-34..10 speed cassette so in my compact I can ride up 34-34 and spin at 70-80 rpm up 18% grade hills. For you that don't know most of you probably ride maybe 12-27..so I had equal to 7 easier gears. I had plenty of practice climbing hills.



end of hill but goes right and continues on



Rode did my thing, found first loop was easier than I thought driving the course. Ate every 20' with beeps.

As I finished my first loop a men's sprint was starting..so there are 20 guys mounting their bikes slowly on left and I had to maneuver to pass them on the left as this stretch I was probably going 23mph? Hit the hill and they all pass me back, but I thought I'll catch you back and many I did.

I had ongoing conversation with police and volunteers each loop.

Loop 2 felt pretty good..saw family again and was even smiling



Moving so fast up hill the background is blurry..my cassette makes such a difference.



Loop 3 had to pee so I did, checking behind me, water bottles not good at spraying to rinse off.

Loop 4 could see my power was off a little...I'm thinking not fully recovered from epic week, knowing run is ahead, stress about my Mom, plus lack of focus played in here. I dropped my chain over my big chain ring and had to stop and put it back on..probably took 25 seconds.

Saw my family one last time on the bike, really like this bike course incredibly beautiful mostly farm area. Back 3.4 miles I could do 3 miles under 8 minutes..each loop was ~24 minutes so the other 4.4 miles took 16 minutes.

I just rode, did my plan best I could, and enjoyed being able to ride fast and conquer those hills 4x...I felt really strong.

Hit my cadence dead on..I've changed from spinner to having 80-85 feeling comfortable.

Every 20' 20 grams malt

Entire workout (156 watts):
Duration: 1:45:14
Work: 979 kJ
TSS: 163.8 (intensity factor 0.969)
Norm Power: 165
VI: 1.06
Pw:HR: 5.14%
Pa:HR: 0.42%
Distance: 30.401 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 380 156 watts
Heart Rate: 128 157 146 bpm
Cadence: 32 163 82 rpm
Speed: 2.2 33.3 17.4 mph

Loop 1 & 2 NP 175-very good for me
Loop 3 NP 162
Loop 4 NP 155

Not ideal pacing but backing off was part of the plan...lack of focus at times.

4@22grams of malt=88 grams of carbs 2 Lava Salts

Focus better

Given what I had today, did best I could. Nice power for first 50'

Remembered to take Pitt stop out of my rear pocket and take HR strap off

Methodical and good

Happy with how I did

Run was very interesting for me. Front half of course is mostly up hill back half down. I'm not sure what was up first half of the race as I ran slowly..felt okay just was off and not able to push myself. Starts with a big hill then I just think I got stuck into my long comfortable run pace that I've practiced a lot.

As normal women start passing me as soon as I start running some fly by others slightly faster. I compete against me, but it is always a bit depressing. I learned today that the negative thoughts I have effect my running. How can I expect to do my best when I'm having negative feeling about my abilities.

I tried using my mental training I've been working on. I started breathing deeply and thought out with the negative as I breathed out and as I breathed in, in with the positive. Other thing I repeated over and over in my head was, I'm strong; I'm fit, I'm an Ironman must of repeated that thousand times over and over in my head. Sounds a bit dorky I know but honestly just focusing on what I was doing and not allowing negative thoughts to stay in my head gradually changed my mental outlook. Often, no normally I count down the miles and time I have to do and suffer through it. Gradually my mind went neutral then I just enjoyed being outdoors running in a beautiful place.

I still was doing slow IM pace run and I needed nature break..worked in my head pee while running or find a place to go..opted to go in this little dead end..yep could have been seen from the road but only took 33 seconds....felt so much better.

Other mantra I repeated was I'm here, I'm now and I'm present no thinking about other stuff...what was done in race, worrying about my Mom, no stay right now.

I knew my family was just passed the covered bridge and about a mile down the road and was looking forward to encouraging words and connecting with them knowing it would energize me. I made up my mind to get up the big hill then try to go as fast as I could and see what I could do. Came into the bridge and it was tough to run on as boards were uneven..but was looking forward to being with my family.



Through the covered bridge knowing soon I'll see my family and get a big mental boost.



I goofed around a bit with Kevin who ran up the hill taking pictures of me and someone was teasing me that I had my own paparazzi



The switch back hill was covered with paint which was fun to read while I climbed the hill or ran and walked up it



It was odd, at the top of the hill I started picking up the pace and felt good so I kept trying to go faster and I could which surprised me. What was new for me I was working hard but it felt almost effortless both mentally and physically it was just was. I was able to run faster and was surprised how fast I was running. It's hard to explain how it felt, but it was something I have never experienced in running in a tri before. I started to get choked up as the experience was so amazed and a bit sad that this would soon be over. I knew I had more in me to go longer at that pace and was curious what all I could do.

Both time and distance left my mind but a fleeting thought..just felt really good and strong. It is hard to explain what happened as it was new to me.

I was able to pick up pace to finish running in the 8's...started wheezing so asthma was good until final push to the finish.



Lap Data
Lap Time Distance Pace/Speed
1 12m 22s 1.00 miles 12m 22s /mile hill
2 11m 42s 1.00 miles 11m 42s /mile
3 11m 47s 1.00 miles 11m 47s /mile
4 01m 38s 0.13 miles 12m 29s /mile
5 00m 33s 0.02 miles 32m 49s /mile nature break
6 11m 07s 0.85 miles 13m 04s /mile huge hill
7 10m 46s 1.00 miles 10m 46s /mile
8 09m 41s 1.00 miles 09m 41s /mile
9 09m 57s 1.00 miles 09m 57s /mile
10 01m 32s 0.18 miles 08m 31s /mile

3@ 15 grams of malt on run with 1.5 Lava Salts

Cloud cover was kind to help me run better

I'm thrilled with back half of the run. I got to a place both mentally and physically I've never been before. I realize I could have gone harder first half the run, but live and learn. In all my years doing tris I've never experienced this before and felt so strong in a run like I did today...I learned a lot about myself. Progress finally!!!

Running is more mental than I realized. The positive mantras I repeated over and over and not allowing negative thought to stay and then not to come, helped me do better. Going forward runs need to a positive place which can be hard when so many folks pass me and it can be easy to feel that I suck..feeling that I suck doesn't allow me to do my best. Positive thinking going forward on runs...

Finished headed into transition to find almost all the bikes gone. Found my family and then made my recovery drink. Packed up my area, Kevin went to get car and the girls and I headed over to area with awards and food.



I also need to accept me for me and be okay with me..and I think I'm getting better at that.

In scheme of those competing I'm not competitive but I had fun out there challenging myself and I do see positive gains in my fitness in various ways..not perfectly executed race but good and learning experience.

Ate and waited around for awards..sprint and Oly men's went super slow and rain came so they announced all Oly women in 60". Won Master Athena..not super competitive division..won a cool mug..so this year I'm 6 for 6 how odd is that. I do this for me getting hardware is a nice bonus..but changes nothing how I feel about myself.


Lack of focus loop 3-4 on bike and first 4 miles on run but given what's going on with my Mom I'll give myself a pass on being hard on myself.

Cool things about this race:
~I had fun
~ I found a place running never been before and it was awesome..I want some more
~ I wasn't hard on me (harshly judging) sounds odd but I tend to be disappointed in how I do when I see how I low I place in the scheme of triathlete...only ~35 women did it and there were maybe 5 my age or older...I'm growing to see this more as a challenge against me and how I stack up doesn't really matter..this is key to enjoying this sport for a lifetime
~ I'd love to have this type of race experience over and over..had fun, did my best, learned quite a few things and my kids were proud of me
~ how we live and the actions we do as parents are what our kids really learn from not what we say...I'm proud my kids see me living healthy in a positive way


Great location, very family friendly, small race with both a sprint and oly distance race, nice post race food, easy for family to spectate and parking is easy. Staying at Hampton Inn was 2 miles from race site and easy.

Nice race...will do it again.