5/25 this year, 4/16 last year. That is with stopping every 100 yards or so to look for Jon in the crowd of white caps, emptying out the goggles and having my foot bitten (honest to God, I do NOT know how my toes landed in someone else's mouth, but they did and I was too startled to stop and look to see if they were okay). I just stayed nice and relaxed, but swallowed lots of lake water since the chop was rough. I need to learn how to work with the waves for next year, is there a way to do that??

Pick different goggles. I chose mine because I bought the damn things from Dirk and wanted to get some money's worth out of my aquaspheres (but, I really don't like them at all). They leaked like a mo' fo'. I wouldn't care so much, but the water made my eyes sting.

Last year - 2:49.

I told Jon that I'd wait for him at the mounting line. Well, I took my time in T1 to dry off and take it slow. Long enough for Jon to come in. I waited for him, realized I'd forgotten all my nutrition in my backpack, ran over, grabbed it, waited for Jon a smidge longer and we took off. Luckily, he was wearing a BRIGHT shirt so I was able to spot him the whole race.

IF I was racing, I wish I would have remembered nutrition. They had a "race" at the end of the race between T1 and T2 times. I'm usually pretty speedy, so if I had known about that then I would have definitely waited for him at the mount line. ; ) .

I'm actually quite baffled with my age group rank being so high and the fact that I was *only* 8 minutes slower than last year. I don't know what the HELL was wrong with my bike, but it was like cycling through SLUDGE the whole g** damn bike leg. Jon thinks my chain needed a little lube, but I'm telling you, it took serious EFFORT to maintain 14+ mph through most of this race. I don't know how I managed a 16.2 mph average, but I'm kind of stoked. It was like I was stuck in the middle ring, but the bike was shifting through all the gears. I would try to spin up hills and...I couldn't spin. It was like there was gum in the chain or something. Then, I *remembered* that my front wheel was tilted a little funny and rubbing. I thought for sure the flat tire I fixed on it before the race was to blame and I figured I didn't put it on straight after. Needless to say, my bike felt unsteady and so I didn't bother barreling down hill like I normally would to make up time. I figured I'd rather make it to T2 in one piece.

I also lost some time when I guy on a spiffy Cervelo wiped out in front of me on the bike path. I don't know what the heck his bike slipped on (sand? leaves?) but he went down hard and bumped his head. Luckily, I was far enough behind him that I didn't collide, but I skidded a little, too, when I braked. I asked if he was okay, he didn't look beat up and he was actually more concerned about the bike. Sounded like his priorities were in order so I said adios. Ha.

Not have an angel on my shoulder in the form of RStocks OR not wait for Jon at T1. Then I would have avoided stopping for the above gentleman. =p Seriously, I thought to myself "If I were to wipe out, I would hope someone would stop for me and ask if I need medical help".

Other than that, I would get out the day before and get on my bike. I hadn't been on it for what felt like weeks, so maybe I could have noticed a problem before then? It's not like I was out of shape. Jon and I biked around Colorado for 8 hours earlier that week with no problem. AND, last year I averaged 17.9 mph with BARELY any training on the bike. I have WAY more mileage and fitness under my belt now, so if the stars had been aligned I could have shown this who's boss.

Last year - 1:13.

Jon was waiting for me in T2. He didn't stick with me on the bike like we had planned on ahead of time (jerk). So, all I had to do was drop my crap off and go.

Grab sunglasses or a visor (probably the visor, though). It was SUNNY out and my face got burned and my eyes burned.

Jon is not a runner, so we kept it at his pace. I was nervous for him because he had never run this far, let alone after swimming and biking. I let him set the pace for the first 3 miles and since he didn't look like he was going to keel over I decided to sneakily pick up the pace. He mentioned that the hills were rough, but I barely noticed them. They felt good, like they were stretching things out. God, I love when training pays off for me! It was a nice easy 6 mile jog (but, don't tell Jon that). I made it across the finish line smiling, but Jon got his first taste of exercise induced asthma. Poor boy. GET USED TO IT SUCKER! That's all I have to say. =)

Request the Jamaican themed water station ahead of time. I missed those guys this year!! I really felt like I could have whomped the competition on the run since I had so much in the tank from the less than stellar bike, but oh well. I had lots of saved up energy for beer drinking!

Kept an eye on the husband. He thought he was having a heart attack, but I reasoned at the ripe old age of 28 that it was something else that was hurting his throat and chest. After he simmered down, we grabbed some chow.


Hehehe. <- I'll leave that open to interpretation.


This is a great race and I was so happy that the weather was MUCH better than last year's! PLUS, I was happy that they held it on Saturday instead of Sunday. The volunteers rocked. They did a GREAT GREAT GREAT job at the intersections. I love that they had raffles at the end. We didn't win anything despite spending a little extra on more tickets, but still, it's a good idea. We wanted those zipp wheels or a wetsuit REALLY bad! =)