The swim was a JOKE! They herded the elites into the water and off they went. Same with the 2nd wave. But during the 3rd wave, one woman stood ankle deep in the water (it was along a beach) and when the gun wnet off, she RAN down the beach and entered the water right by the turnaround buoy. Of course we were all saying WTF? The announces said this was legal under USAT rules as long as your feet were in the water. So by the time my wave went off, only about 3 of us actually started swimming, the rest did the running thing. We had to do 2 loops of 750 meters each, getting out in the middle to run over the timing mat. The first turnaround buoy was only about 50 yards from the start. When I rounded the second turnaround buoy, I started swimming back towards the swim exit and when I turned to breathe on my weak side I saw basically EVERYONE running down the beach! Obviously they were running faster than I was swimming, so I swam to the shore and joined them, but everyone was saying how it felt like cheating. They kept telling us as long as our feet were in the water, it was legal. So, basically the RUNNERS got an extra edge. Literally half the swim, was running since one whole side of the swim loop was along the beach. My time would have been faster had I seen the running before I was 1/3 of the way to the swim exit the first time around!

Swim straight to the shore at the second turnaround buoy, I probably could have been first overall in the swim!

This is actually a combined time. The actual results show a "Dash" between the swim and T1. Supposedly it was only 1/4 mile, but there's no way! It was a LONG @$$ way from the water back to transition. My dash time was 5:11, T1 was 1:20. I was able to run the whole thing, we were told to bring shoes to place just outside the swim exit and they had a wading pool so we could wash the sand off our feet. I ran in Crocs because during transtion practice, I felt it was taking too long to get running shoes on. Besides, I didn't want to risk blisters running barefoot in sneakers.

Nothing, I thought this was pretty good. I was a little tired from the extra run, so could have been a little quicker getting the bike shoes and socks on.

This was by far the best leg of the race and I felt AWESOME! I really kicked butt on this leg. I played leap frog with about 4 other girls, all much younger than me. One especially was with me the whole ride and we took turns in the lead. She was 29 and at one point she asked me, "How'd you get so fast?" That sure made me feel good! I hammered the downhills and that made the uphills a piece of cake! There were only 2 hills that I felt I had to work at and they were small. I took the last loop a little easier and really spun easily the last 3 miles, knowing the run was coming. Ate 3 Shot Blox during lap 2. I LOVED this ride!!!!

Nothing, loved it.

I made a point to park fairly close to the bike in/out, so it was easy to rack, change shoes and get out.

Nothing, I thought this was a good transition.

So here's where I lost the race. I really did try not to really push it on the bike so I'd have something left for the run. I ran/walked the first mile, trying to get my HR to come down and after the first water station tried to get into a rhythm. Had to keep stopping to walk. I came off the bike with some side stitches and they were really noticable when I ran, in fact they started on my left side, moved across my stomach, up through my ribs on my right and then started around my back. I couldn't get my breathing under control, but I was able to run a little more than half the time for the first 3 miles. There was another water station at the turnaround and they also gave us a sponge full of ice water, that felt GREAT! The side stitches got worse and worse and by mile 4 every time I tried to run, I could feel my legs threatening to cramp up, so I ended up walking most of the last 3 miles. It was everything I could do to just job the last 1/8 mile or so across the finish line. The top 3 in my AG all passed me on the run and I had a HUGE lead going into the run. ARRRGH!

Keep working on my running AND bike fitness over the winter.

Got my finisher's medal (pretty cool!), and they gave us a small towel soaked in ice water and a water bottle full of cold water. Walked a little bit, packed up my stuff and loaded up the car and then looked at the vendor's booths, got a free bottle of sweet tea but couldn't stomach looking at the food. Sat down and waited for the awards.


The freakin' run leg! If I can get the damn running down, I will be awesome at this!


While I was disappointed in my run performance, I was psyched that I actuall did an OLY!! At no time did I feel like quitting and I never got to the point that I thought I would mess myself and have to crawl across the finish line, ha! I did NOT like the running during the swim leg, I thought it was unfair to give the runner's another advantage and took away my advantage as a swimmer. The run from the swim to T1 was ridiculous, even if the lake was full it would be a long run! And in the reults they have the swim listed as swim 1 and swim 2, so I had to add them together to figure out my total time. The bike course was awesome, and the run course was very scenic as I was able to note because I walked most of it! Lots of volunteers, nice race and I hope to really work and kick ass at it next year and bring home the bling! One lady commented as she passed me on the run (as basically everyone did), "You're soing this at 52, you should be proud of yourself" and I AM, but the competitor in me knows I have more in me and more work to do!

Note to self: When doing an OLY for the first time, bring someone who can drive home! I thought I was going to puke all the way home and really struggled to keep my eyes open. Came home and immediately crashed for a coupld of hours. Weighed myself when I got up and I had lost 3 pounds since I weighed myself when I got up!