Amazingly found room to swim this year. I think it's mostly just by chance, but pretty much right from the start I had elbow room out there most of the way. Big change from past 2 years when I felt like I was fighting someone the whole way. Cold water actually didn't shock me at all either...wetsuit and 2 swim caps helped and I was prepared for the temp because I swam in the lake last weekend.

Not much...maybe could have pushed a little harder and taken another minute off, but that would be about the best I could've possibly hope for.

Everything went ok...certainly not lightning fast, but I found my stuff easily and made the transition ok.

I need tri shoes. I can't put my biking shoes on while riding, so I have to put them on then run past the mount point with them on, which is hard and costs me time.

Really crowded and lots of people not following course rules of passing on right. Add in the potholes and lateral cracks between lanes and I'm always just happy to get through this alive and sans flats. Tough winds going north, easy riding going south.

That said, I've felt slow on the bike all year. I don't know if it's possibly something mechanical or not in tune on my bike, or if there's something I'm just not getting about cycling. I feel slow and people pass me and I look at them and their bike and just think "how the hell is that person generating more power than me?" The people with the tricked out tri bikes - that doesn't surprise me at all when they pass me, but there were some women with bikes no better than mine that flew by me.

I think I need to consult a coach or biking team or something. It's not like my speed is terrible being just under 20mph, but I've gotten slower over the past couple years and have never given biking/cadence/pedaling much thought other than "push hard and go fast."

This sucked, I couldn't find my stuff. I found my rack and general vicinity no problem, but could not find my shoes & bag. It was so frustrating, I was going back and forth along a 20-foot section looking through piles of wetsuits and other people's bags. Racked my bike where I found an open spot and kept looking until finally, right there underneath me, I found my shoes. Cost me a full minute for sure, but maybe I shouldn't complain too much because it gave me a little rest and brought my heart rate down for a minute before hitting the run.

Find my stuff!

Started pretty strong and after about a mile or so realized I was in almost no danger of cramping up!! This was great news, as that has gotten me in the past. So I just tried to zone in and kill it pretty good. Maybe got a little ahead of myself as the last 2 miles were pretty tough - especially with the strong headwind on the way back. But I never walked or anything, just kept chugging and ended with my best run over 3 years of this race.

Probably nothing.

Walked around, had some food. Wanted beer but they only had the one beer tent and you and to stay in the little roped off area and drink your beer in there...lame.


Only the wind. But overall I really can't complain about the weather. Temperature-wise it was perfect...probably as good as we will ever get with an August race. No humidity or anything.