I really like time trial starts. We sat on a pier and then lowered ourselves in the water. Floated to the end of the pier which was the starting point and started swimming once they said "#500 GO!"
I immediately passed #499 which was a nice boost for the first 200m of the swim. For the first time ever, I was actually able to settle down into the swim and breath bilaterally! This is the first race I have done that. I guess it is because I knew that this was a much longer swim than a sprint.
Overall this race gave me great confidence in the Half Iron swim later this year. This certainly wasn't my fastest swim and tons of people passed me but it also wasn't a bad effort and overall a good use of energy. No extra energy expended than necessary. And of the 3 sports, this was my best performance if you compare me to my age group.

I seem to be having a bit of upper arm issues that I think might stem from the last swim I did before the race. Next time, no fiddling with swim stroke the last swim before a race.
I still need to focus on speed in the water but I know that I need to focus more on my other two sports.

I Originally guesstimated on my T1 time based on what my bike computer said because they had our results as T1+Bike. Bike Computer said 16.7 MPH which means if my calculations were true... WHAT THE HELL WAS I DOING FOR 6 MINUTES? I can only guess that this time also includes the Run up the Amphitheater Stairs from the Swim Finish. And the way transition was set up you could not take the most direct route to your bike because they were trying to make it fair for all age groupers.

However once the original results were posted I was only in transition 2:50. OH THANK GOODNESS!!! I was really beginning to get worried there. It does mean my bike time was a tad bit longer but that is more than ok. I can now move my overall rating of T1 from Below Average/Bad to Average :)

Hell if I know! This time is deceiving because of the layout of transition and the run from the swim. I need to practice my Transitions in order to gain speed.

The huge hill on this course is at mile 4.5 and I just about wanted to quit while I was on that hill. Of course who comes speeding along past me on that hill, My Husband. All smiles and yelling "Hey Sexy". I think I gave him the evil glare!
Aside from the evil hill (which is nothing like what I have trained on), I had an awesome bike. I really focused on riding my own ride and not focusing on those around me. I tried to hold back and not chase down those who passed me. My focus was on keeping my cadence high and my heart rate as low as possible. The back half of the course seemed much easier than the front half of the course even though it was an out and back with ups and downs on both sides. There were a few points in the race where I just felt like a rock star. One particular moment was around Mile 16 on a false flat where I was just cruising in the right gear and appropriate cadence.
I always complain about wanting more speed on the bike and I know it will come with time but overall I think I did an awesome job.

I still need to work on hills. I am planning a few hill repeat sessions between now and Augusta to help me prep.

I have got to work on getting on and off my bike. While the time it took me to do that is not reflected in my T times because the mount line is past the timing mats, I know it took forever.
I overshot my rack and ended up on the wrong side. Luckily the two ladies next to me who got back before I did racked their bikes wrong as well so Putting my bike on the rack from the wrong side wasn't a big deal. However, getting to my shoes is another story. I ended up dipping under and empty part of the rack to get to my stuff. Probably added 15-30 seconds which overall isn't a big deal but still cost me time. Again, transition is set up to be fair to everyone so you don't get to use the most direct route to your rack which added time.

Don't overshoot my rack! :) and learn how to be faster!

I have said it before and I will say it again... My Run Sucks. How much does it stink to be second to last in the run in my age group?
Now that being said, I still felt strong during parts of the run. I knew the run would be my weakest at this race, especially with this distance. My goal was to do 2/1 intervals which I truthfully knew would not happen. Overall I ended up doing mainly 1:30/1:30 intervals with the occasional 1/2 interval. I had 3 other people who I played leapfrog with the entire time and we all tried to motivate each other.
I did find out on this run that with the heat, Heed is not a good match for my running nutrition. Every time I would try to take a sip my stomach would turn. I ended up sticking with the water on the course and completely forgot that I had a gel in my race belt so water was my only form of nutrition/hydration on the run. I definitely need to work on my run nutrition as thins progress.

By far this is the area where I can gain the most improvement. I am trying to figure out where I can add run workouts to gain improvement without causing injury or without sacrificing time in the other two sports. This has led me to think it might be worth my while to hire a coach even if it is just to focus my next two months of tri training and my running after that.

I immediately found Kenny and headed to the food tent. I knew that we had a 3-4 hour drive home so I was interested in making post race short and sweet so that we could get on the road. I walked around for a bit in the food tent area and had some Ruffles chips for the salt and a banana. At the finish they hand you a Hammer Water bottle and Kenny gave me the great idea to water down a powerade in that bottle and that set well on my stomach. We went over to transition to pack up and chatted a bit with the racers around us. Then back to the hotel to change and then head home.


Running and nutrition. I need to focus on my running and really do some more experimenting with nutrition. I have a hard time telling what works and what doesn't out on the bike nutrition wise so I feel a little lost in the dark.


I liked this race and would do it again. I want to get some revenge on that damn hill and honestly want to see my Olympic distance overall time improve.

In gender placing I was 366 out of 410... Yikes! An hmmm I finished in the bottom 100. WOW, I feel loved :)