This was not a good swim. I almost missed the wave start, actually, and made it to the group right when the announcer said "30 seconds..." So I started way in the back and got stuck behind lots of slow people, that I couldn't get around very well. Finally decided to go wide and try to pass them on the right, but I should've just stuck to the buoy line. I ended up sighting very poorly I guess; it seemed like I was always way out from everyone else, even though I sighted every other breath or so, and tried to track the buoys as well as I could. It was also pretty choppy out there, since the winds were already at 15 mph by 5:00. Not sure what they were at 7:30 @ the start.

Seed myself a little more aggressively and sprint more at the start to get a little ahead, and then stick with the buoys. Pee before the race (not going before the race kind of messed me up mentally). Oh, and I got a little chunk taken out of my left arm during this swim apparently... so I'd hit back. ;)

As I was running up the beach to the transition area, I saw my coach on the side cheering, so that was really nice, but I have never been so dizzy coming out of the water. I felt fine swimming, but coming out of the chop must've thrown my brain off. I didn't feel great, so didn't rush through transition. I had to sit down to get my wetsuit off, and it stuck on my heel, but I recovered pretty quickly, and got going again.

The bike is by far my favorite part of the race. This started out very frustrating through. Since my swim is so slow, and my age group started later, there were a lot of slower folks in front of me, blocking the road. I had to cruise behind them for a ways before getting out onto the main road. But once we got out there, I was cooking. I rode hard and passed lots of people. Only got passed 2 or 3 times total, by some fast guys. (All the real fasties were already ahead of me! haha) But I really enjoyed the bike. The turn south straight into the wind, after going over the lake dam, was brutal. But luckily, a lot of the course was shielded from the winds, and I think the headwind side tended to be more downhill anyway, so wind wasn't too much of a factor. There is one really big hill on John Scherer Pkwy, but the Bike Shack group ride (that Dave and I have ridden with before) was out and they'd all stopped at the top of the hill and were cheering us all on, so that was really nice, and good motivation to get out of the saddle and climb!

Nothing, except swim faster so I can get to the bike faster! :)

Pretty uneventful T1. I finally remembered to just grab my race # belt and put it on while running, so that saved some time.

We were lucky in that it was partly cloudy, so that helped keep the run cooler. I started off just average pace; this was more of a training race for me, so I wasn't pushing it by any means. Got to the first aid station, and took a GU and had something to drink while walking. When I got to the 1 mile marker just after that, I was at around 10:30. I figured it was going to be just a "meh" run. But then, I found and started running with Jason Phillips (in my tri club, and used to log on BT), and he was going a little faster than me, so I upped my pace. We ran together for maybe a mile or so, and then he was going to stop for a little bit, so I kept going, and held the pace the rest of the way. I was hoping to come in under 3 hours total, and knew I'd have to keep it up, and I did! I actually finished the run in 55:13, which is a new 10k PR for me, woohoo! :) Very happy about that!

nothing

just walked around, stretched, talked to people, got some chocolate milk & chips.


swimming ability/sighting


This is a really fun, well-organized and well-supported race. It's a nice course, not too easy or hard, and they have good post-race support as well: Lots of food, drinks, even grilled hamburgers & beer. Plus they printed out little results sheets for everyone right after you finished with all your splits & stats. That was very cool, and a nice surprise. This is a race I will definitely do again!