Again, hate drafting...don't touch my feet! I breathed well, stuck with once every three strokes so I was switching sides, and I sighted well. I stayed pretty much on a direct line to the buoys, and breast stroke kicked with my head up when I needed to get around them in a crush of people. The men left the beach three minutes before the women, but I started passing the stragglers and then the back of the pack before I hit the first buoy.

Nothing. I'm glad I didn't wear a wet suit - trying to get in and out of it wouldn't have been worth it given the temperature. I don't really need one to swim well.

I'm always slow on this transition because I feel like I'm still stuck in a groove from the swim. Like, if you asked me what my mom's name was when I got out of the water, I'd have to think. So I thought I laid out my gear pretty well considering my mental funk...I put on my helmet and sunglasses first, put my camelbak water bottle in my mouth and drank while I brushed off sand and put on my shoes, put down teh water, and then I was gone.

There was sand still in my shoes, but that didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. It would be nice to have a second towel on hand for that. Maybe I should learn how to start with my shoes in my clips 'cause I did struggle to get my feet clipped in and get going at first.

At one point, I was worried that I was exhausting my legs by doing some standing climbs, but then I decided that the run would be awful no matter what I did, so I just raced my heart out on the bike. I got passed by some of the more advanced racers (including the men that I had passed in the swim :) pretty early in the bike ride, but then I fell into the pack and traded places with a few people until we made it back. I like to ride in a really high gear which is dumb, but I spent a good portion of the second half of the ride over 30 miles an hour. Every time I downshifted, I tried to click one more time than I thought I needed to in order to try to spin more.

Nothing during the bike, but I was on very tired legs for the run. I need to work on both standing and seated climbs. I was also only wearing a swim suit - my sit bones were aching about halfway through. It didn't throw me off, but it wasn't comfortable. I didn't drink anything while I was riding at all (I am just not coordinated enough), but this didn't seem to hurt me at all.

Thought my legs were going to scream the second I unclipped and hopped off, but nothing too extreme. My legs weren't fresh, but they weren't numb like they were during my first triathlon.

My feet were still sandy and I don't wear socks with my bike shoes, so I spent some time brushing my feet and putting socks on before I slid my feet into my shoes. Wore my old Adidas that I don't untie, so that was quick. I had run the whole race with my HRM strap on, but I didn't want to take my watch into the water. I made it halfway from the rack to the end of transition before I realized I had forgotten my watch...I ran back to get it. I really wanted it, and I was glad I had it.

Didn't really drink much because I hate being sloshy. I could talk to people so my breathing was fine, but my legs were just tired. I should have checked the map of the run beforehand so I knew what to expect. Also, people had music, which I thought was not allowed...I would have loved to have had my iPod. I had been trading places with one guy the whole race, so when we hit the last 100 yards, I sprinted and almost threw up, so I knew I was putting in just as much effort as I possibly could the whole time. I'm not satisfied with the run, but it was definitely what I was expecting.

Adjust my race belt so it wasn't riding up so much. There's not much I can do other than running more and training the bricks...the run just isn't my strength at all.

Drank a lot of water right away to stave off nausea, then jumped into husband's arms. Walked around a little bit.


Training. I need to do some bricks and more long-distance runs.


The live music and food were great. I had a great time and felt good during and after. And I took 3rd place in my division!