I screwed up my sighting on this swim. I followed a pack of about 10 guys to what we thought was a buoy. It turned out to be a kayaker on the far side of the lake (way off course) waving his yellow paddle in the air. When we got there, we all hung a hard right to head back to the shore line buoys. Then the next wave of fish started passing through, and I managed to grab a draft for a few minutes of the return leg.

Sight better, don't trust others. With the fog on the water, it was hard.

I spent some time putting on sun screen, and I think this was a good move.

I wish I had taken my goggles off.

I did this whole ride with goggles around my neck. Doh!

I wanted to stay in zone 2, which is about 145 bpm. I managed to keep the hills under 160, which meant spinning easily up them. On the downhills I tried to keep my heart rate up, which meant blasting past the guys who passed me on the hill. I ended up going back and forth with a few folks like that. All in all, this was a fun ride. It was absolutely perfect race weather, cool and no wind. I loved this course.

I wish I could go faster at the same heart rate. Otherwise I set myself up for the best run I could do.

Put on sunscreen again and got some encouragement from the Olympic finishers who were milling about. Everyone was really friendly. I think it's my winning smile that charms them all.
I saw Catie and Leah on the way out, so I stole 2 kisses before my run.

The plan was to keep in zone 2, 155-160 bpm for the first 8 miles and then cruise the last 5 miles while increasing intensity. On the hill climb and decent I found a friend to run with. I never got his name, but we ran together for about 4 miles. He called it the "half iron wars". I stayed around 160 bpm on the up and down. Then the flat, 160 as well. When I hit the turnaround (5 miles to go) I peed, and then went to 165. I started passing people. I think I passed 5 folks in the last 5 miles. I've never, NEVER, passed people like this. With 3 miles left I went to 170 bpm. On the last mile I went to 180, I think. It was getting blurry, but I think the last mile was a 8:00/mile.
I managed to pass one guy in the finisher's chute, and it's on tape! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Iw0AbqItIk

I think I executed this run perfectly, I am really happy with the day.

Fed Leah her first Oreo and she made a HUGE mess. I think she likes cookies.


I stayed really positive this whole race. I made a point of not complaining, and I think that really paid off. This sport is way too mental to start wallowing. I can't believe it took me so long to figure that out.