goal was 15 mins. ended up being long swim for me. 'why?' you ask? well, at the turn around i was drafting behind some guy...and followed him w/o spotting and ended up cutting in between two bouys. i heard the guard yell and realized what had happened. had to double back and get back to where i was supposed to be.

note to self: don't assume the person in front of you knows where they are going!

goal was 3 minutes. gah! this was the worst transition i've ever done! i had high hopes for a speedy transition, since i didn't have to change clothes. well, i braided my hair today and my helmet kept getting caught in the braid and wouldn't go on! i loosened it up and then tried to tighten it up, but then it wouldn't tighten. grumble! this ate up a good two minutes of my time...while my husband watched and looked at me like 'what is going on?'. finally got the helmet on and off i went. oh, and i took some of the electrolytes kelly gave me! i felt strange popping 'pills' during transition.

when trying a new hair do, test the helmet out while setting up my transition area instead of trying it out during t1!

woo hoo! i was going faster than i thought! goal 70 mins. made my goal! hurrah. this was good, since i was trying hard to pace myself and save a bit for the run. i forgot my computer (and my seat bag - thank goodness i didn't get a flat!), so i had to go by how many people i was passing, and falling in with folks who seemed to keep the same pace i hoped to. this seemed to work well, but i still wish i had the computer. overall bike was very pleasant. passed lots of people. used my aero bars more than i would have expected...and the aero bottle was a life saver! took a clif shot at the 5 mile mark, and a second one right towards the end.

remember my bike computer and seat bag! :) i was worried about hydration, so i drank a lot on the bike. i ended up with a bit of sloshing at the beginning of the run, but after a bit i was fine.

goal 1 minute. 3+ minutes!? according to my watch it was 59 seconds. well, add that into the bike, and iwas going faster than i thought...but it means i need some SERIOUS work on my transitions!!!! took 1 more electrolyte pill before heading out.

faster faster faster, and leave my socks on.

goal was 55 mins. hurrah! great end to a race that didn't start out so great. i was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable i stayed despite the heat. there was a breeze off the lake, plus lots of sponges and ice at some of the water stations (and there were SEVEN water stations, which was awesome). three women from my wave passed me up at the beginning of the run. i ended up passing all three over the course of the run, two of them in the last couple miles. i paced myself really well, walked the water stations, and kept my cool!

nothing...well, maybe a little less walking at the water stations :)

talked with one of the women i had passed. she's on the gear west team and is doing a 1/2 IM next weekend...and a full IM still this season. so inspiring. tracked down my family. had a bagel, a banana, some watermelon, and some recovery drink.


the heat. being a dork on the swim and in t1.


this was a very nice race. i may do it again next year. the only thing i (well, we) didn't like was the drive. almost 3 hours total in the car was too much for the kids.

this was my first long course. not quite an oly, i know, but this is the longest race i've done aside from 1/2 marathons. it felt really good, even though it was stinkin' hot. next race is also a 'long' course, although the swim is almost a mile. may need to add in an official olympic distance this year just so i can say i've done a real oly! :)

official numbers now. top 10! can't complain. my overall realistic goal was to finish in under 2:30, probably around 2:24 based on the numbers from my last race (modified slightly because of the longer distance). finished in 2:23 (according to my watch), so that's great.

overall women: 73/142
fastest woman in my age group: 1:53
slowest in my age group: 2:51