I did absolutely horrible in the swim. I have swam a lot more before this race than my last one, but is my second time swimming in open water in my life. That made a huge difference. I got in the water and warmed up, etc, which helped a lot, but I did the breast stroke the ENTIRE time. It was honestly like I had never swam before. That was slightly frustrating. I got kicked a few times and was in a mass start, which was fine and didn't bother me. Since I did the breast stroke the whole time, I was basically exhausted when I was done with the swim. It was my first time to ever wear a wetsuit in my whole life. I was surprised how buoyant I was! I liked it!

Practice swimming in open water! That will make a big difference. I was surprised how different it is from swimming in a pool, even despite the low wave/chop conditions.

Transition was pretty good. My legs were pretty wobbly coming out onto the boat ramp but I ran up and started peeling off the wetsuit pretty quickly. I was able to down a Hammer Gel, even tho I had to jump around while doing it (I hate them:) ). It took too long to put my jersey on, which I waited to put on because it had my number on it so I couldn't get it wet.

Buy a belt to put my number on, keep the jersey on in the swim. Practice taking a wetsuit off :)

The wind was really frustrating. I felt like I had absolutely nothing left after the swim, and to go up a big peak right away was hard. The wind made it really frustrating because once I got up to the top of the peak and wanted to go downhill quickly, the wind was too strong! One racer got hit by a car, which was really scary, but he is in stable condition. The race volunteers were pretty good at directing people and did all they could. I did get passed by a few people but tried to not let it upset me. I stopped to help one guy who didn't have a CO2 cartridge because I knew I was not breaking any records, so 30 seconds out of my time does not matter. He then blew by me on his bike:) It was a pretty course, but the wind made it extremely difficult and tiring. I did, however, put down a gel on the bike, and some gatorade and water. It should have been more, but better than I've done before.

The biking portion is always my strongest part and it was frustrating when I tried to go hard but I had nothing. The only thing that could have helped me is to do a lot better on the swim.

I was so tired after the biking that I honestly didn't think I could finish. THere was NO way I was not going to finish once I got into T-2! I used Speed Laces for the first time and really liked them. Also hit a Hammer Gel in transition and some water, and packed one for the run

Nothing!

The run was better than I expected. I was absolutely exhausted after the swim and the bike, but my legs held up pretty well except for cramping at the end. I was able to pass some people on the run. There was only one aid station instead of three, which was frustrating because I would have brought water with me if I had known that. The run was pretty, though, and was set up so the fast athletes were running opposite your path on the way back. Some people were really encouraging.

I had to walk some parts because my leg just hurt too badly. I would have taken some water with me and I wish I could have run the whole thing. I did, however, pass some people, which made me happy.

Walked around a bit, put my bike on my car, drank some water and gatorade, ate an orange, laid in the grass after cheering some finishers on.


My swim completely hurt everything else. I was incredibly slow and then was exhausted for everything else. That really needs to improve. The bike was hard because of the hill and the wind. It surprised me how much I rely on my spedometer because I was really frustrated when it wasn't working.
It also really hurt me that I didn't work out for two weeks before the race. One week there was no real good excuse, the second week I had food poisoning and was really sick. That also limited my ability to hydrate properly. I felt reasonably hydrated but really felt like I had no energy during the race and almost threw up a few times.
I was incredibly frustrated after this race because I felt like I had never worked out before and felt basically like a big idiot. The good news is I have plenty of room to improve and am going to do so. Even though I was really upset after the race and swore to never humiliate myself at one of these again, I will do another one. In fact, a month from now!


The maps for the course were poor because they did not inform anyone of any elevation changes. The volunteers were great and cheered everyone on. The race was set up very well for the most part! I also have a T-Shirt with a potato on it-hard to top that!!