We had men and women in our wave. I got to the front of the line and to the left. I wasn't going to play around. We took off and I quickly got engulfed by men. No problem. I just swung out left some more to miss the crowd. Hit the first buoy and was caught in a people jam. Swung out left some more and tried to stay out there so I would have clear water. Did pretty good at that.

Half way to the next turn buoy started catching the wave before me. Not surprising as it was a brutal swim thanks to the wind and the waves.

The closest girl to me in my age group did it in 8:00... the 3rd place girl did it in 9:26. The times were not great due to the chop out there. I was loving it though. Bring the chop! I can swim in that.

Only stopped once to cough because I swallowed way too much water. Otherwise, I was good.

Rounded the last turn buoy and headed for the finish.

Ran out of the water, put on my flip flops and ran for T1. The area they use is a parking lot with a lot of rocks all over it. I can't run though that. Oddly enough, I had the fastest T1 in my AG. SHOCKING!

I told myself I was going to OWN it in the wind. I went into this with a positive attitude and I knew I would do fine. I have been riding in winds like this for the past 2 months.

So we leave the park and hit the dam... and the wind is STRONG. It was a stout crosswind all right.

I just pedaled as hard as I could. It paid off because I got my fastest average EVER on the bike! I mean EVER... I haven't done this in training OR in a race! Ha! Go me!

While riding I got passed by a few guys, but no women. I felt good going into the run but really wasn't thinking that I could place, but I hoped for it.

My transitions are generally sucky and I do need to get better at them. I know I do. This was around the same time the other women in my AG had though. I didn't get the fastest time, but I held my own.

Started on the run and I was feeling the average from the bike. Doesn't help that thanks to some odd injury I have run all of 9 miles in training over 2 weeks time.

I kept telling myself it was ONLY 2 miles. To push it. Also reminded myself that I keep missing placing by SECONDS. I wasn't going to walk away from this race thinking, "If I had only...". No way.

So I pushed. Then at .50 I got a HORRIBLE jabbing side cramp. I thought it was over. I could barely breathe and running hurt so bad. I told myself that something was better than nothing... so I jabbed my fingers in my side and kept running.

At about .75 it worked itself out. Yes!

At the 1 mile turn around I was looking at the ladies in front of me coming head on, to see if they were in my AG. Nope. I thought, "No girls passed me on the bike... I can't see any women in AG ahead of me... I might be placing here!"

Got close to the end and I was feeling a little tired. Saw Tim and he yelled, "You have two girls right behind you", so I kicked it up a notch. I did not want to miss placing by a few seconds again.

Finished and the girls didn't pass me. One of the girls was 30 though. Ha!

Overall my run was OK. Not my best. But I held it together and pressed through a side cramp so I'm happy.

Could barely breathe. Once I got myself together went with Tim to get something to drink and pizza!

Checked the standings and I was in first place for my age group! Are you kidding me! WOW! My first placing in my AG in a tri! YES! I worked hard for it and I got it!

Got a nice trophy for my efforts. That rocks!
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Only 4 out of 10 women were NOT younger than 35 who placed in the top 10 overall. Oh yeah.

Leaders

1. Alison Peters 00:51:04 (Fort Worth TX Age Group Overall)
2. April Hince 00:53:35 (Grand Prairie TX Age Group F 30-34)
3. Karen Robertson 00:54:49 (Grapevine TX Age Group Master)
4. Jennifer Spencer 00:56:56 (Dallas TX Age Group F 25-29)
5. Stacey Wardrup 00:57:11 (Graham TX Age Group F 40-44)
6. Kristen Warner-Codish 00:57:19 (Carrollton TX Age Group F 30-34)
7. Karen Hicks 00:57:57 (Dallas TX Age Group F 35-39)
8. Ann Dannis 00:58:09 (Dallas TX Age Group GMaster)
9. Erika Slater 00:58:13 (Flower Mound TX Age Group F 30-34)
10. Hilary Graham 00:59:35 (Dallas TX Age Group F 30-34)


Solid race. Jack always puts on a good race with the basics covered. I liked that there were only 300 (350?) people. Made for an easy, non complicated race. While it's a short sprint, it was fun. You know you can blow it out from start to finish! It was nice racing inside the park and not dealing with any cars or intersections. The pizza after the race was a great touch. The trophies were nice ones for the winners, thus I gave it a 5.