sign up as an age grouper? it was hard starting in the last wave and having to try and get around people.

felt like this took longer than it did. wore a tri suit (not unitard style), so all i had to do was pull on my running shorts, get into my socks and shoes, and go.

practice before hand. i only did one mini-tri and the transitions weren't really race like at all. then again, this sprint was supposed to be my reminder of what tris are like, so i can't complain too much. i remember now! :)

originally put in course as 14 miles - um, i'm a dork - it was one mile from the parking lot to the transition area and i forgot to reset my computer. duh. i set my pace against that of a woman and clydesdale who passed me, then who i had passed and then they passed me, etc. both finished a minute of two ahead of me, but watching them up ahead and wanting to pass them again kept me going! i passed the woman on the run, but wasn't ever able to catch the clydesdale.

again, went faster than i would have expected, but still could have been faster.

was going faster than i though. legs didn't snap to it until after the turn around point, then i felt like i could actually RUN versus pretending to run. passed loads of people, which was nice! first time that's ever happened to me at a tri! :)

do a little more run related stretching before the race and in t2. i had to stop and stretch about 1/3 mile in because my calves were so tight.

hung out with the girls. ate some banana and a cookie. did some light stretching. brought my stuff back to the car then headed back for the awards ceremony. we made it JUST in time for the athenas! also met kevin (kkokal) after the race and found out we both grew up in duluth (well, we both KNEW this, but not about each other) and that he graduated a year behind my older brother (the one i smoked in the last 1/2 marathon i did).


i chatted a bit both on the bike and the run. could have skipped that, but why? i also could have skipped high-fiving the little girl at the water station, but why?


finally updates my results with the info from the officials. still looks like, compared to others, my swim is still stronger than my bike and run....but even though i lost overal ranking during the run, its still a heck of a lot better than it was last year! some other interesting numbers...had i raced as an age grouper, i would have been 15/29 (which sounds about right compared to other races). 61/147 overall women.

this was a GREAT race. the weather was perfect. loads of volunteers. pretty area. i really hope they do it again next year. if they do, i'll probably race as an age grouper, but as it was today...

this was my first, and maybe last, race as an athena. i went over to see how i did and see how the fastest athena did, and was VERY surprised to see that i was in THIRD PLACE!!! woo hoo! the other women in that class were all VERY fit and didn't look like 'big girls' in the least (okay, maybe a few, and a few very tall women, but otherwise...). i won an athletic bag and a beer mug, both with the logo of the minneman. the bag will probably be my new transition bag, and the mug my new T3 receptacle.

i want to thank foxycharmer for the following statement:

"My experience, although limited, is that the winners in the athenas are gorgeous, fit, 0% body fat 5'10 foot- tall women."

okay, i'm 5'7" and no where near being 0% body fat, but being a #3 athena made me remember this. the other two athenas who won were not really tall, but both were very lean and healthy looking.