The swim was INSANE (this is going to be the theme of this race report)!!! First of all, the ladies in my age group are merciless. I lined up near the front, and it had to be the most agressive swim start I've ever experienced! By the time I hit the first buoy, I had already caught the wave in front of mine - there were a lot of first timers out thre breaststroking, so I felt like I spent a lot of time swimming around people trying not to get kicked. After the second buoy, I made the dumbest mistake - the first and third buoys are both blue, and after I rounded the second buoy, I spotted a blue buoy and started heading toward it. After about 30 seconds or so, I see people swimming the other direction and think to myself, "What the heck?" Then I realize I've been sighting the first buoy, rather than the third - OOPS!!!! Probably got 50 yds off course. After that I got on course and had a good swim into the finish. My swim coach happened to be the volunteer that helped me get out of the water, so I said hey to him and was on my way.

Last year's swim time was 16:32 - cut 1:52 off that time.

Um, swim toward the right buoy...Duh.

Ugh - got out of the water where they make you cross the timing mat, and all the women in front of me are walking SOOOOO slowly. I'm all amped and ready to run to my transition spot, and I'm stuck behind them until we get over the mat. Rest of transition went smoothly. Oh, except they wouldn't let you run in the transition area!! I'm running out with my bike and they're all yelling at me to walk, so I have to stop and walk. Ugh. This is a TRIATHLON, for god's sake. What's the deal?

Pick a race with a smaller transition area, where they let you run with your bike!!

This bike course kicked my butt last year, so I was looking forward to improving over last year's time. Headed out of transition, and some girl tried to mount her bike running in the grass next to me and almost rode right into the side of me - eek!! I normally get passed a lot on the bike leg of tris, but here I was only passed by a few people, and passed literally hundreds. I felt pretty strongly while I was out on the bike course that it just wasn't SAFE - there were too many women out there who didn't really know to stay to the right, and there were a couple of times I thought I was going to go down because someone veered to the left while I was passing them. At about mile 5, there was a big bike accident on the other side of the road - a lady had gone off the road and was down in the ditch with about 10 women around her. On my way back in, I had to make way twice for police heading to the accident, and once for the ambulance. Doesn't really make for a good feeling bike ride!! I pushed it pretty hard for most of the ride, but got stuck in a huge traffic jam for about a mile before the turnaround - felt that this cut into my time a bit.

Last year's bike time was 50:40 - cut 7:08 off that time.

Try not to get stuck behind people so much. Ride LOTS more - I'm just not that strong on the bike!

Once again, couldn't run with my bike in transition. Finally got yankz for my running shoes - it was SOOO nice to not have to fumble with shoe laces for once!!!!!

Nothing, really.

I hadn't run all week due to a foot injury, so I wasn't sure how the foot was going to feel. Headed out, and the foot started to ache immediately. Stopped at 0.5 miles and loosed my shoe laces to see if that would help, then got running again. My legs and breathing felt great, but my foot continued to hurt, especially on the uphills. On a couple of the steeper parts, I had to stop and walk for about 30 seconds becaus the foot was hurting and I didn't want to push it.

Last year's run time was 32:56 - cut 3:30 off that time, even with the injury.

Not have a foot injury!!

I always forget to cool-down after races. Met up with Nate and headed over to where my tri club was meeting to get some food. Chatted with some people there for a while. Ran into Mark and said hey to him. Met up with Cathy and Erik and hung out with them while Tara played on the playground. Foot was hurting after the race, so I rode my bike back to the car while Nate walked, then went home and took a nap!


My left foot, whatever the heck is wrong with it. Also, the number of people on the course made for a LOT of traffic jams.


I rated this race low because I just think it's too big. I think the race organizers do a good job considering the number of people, but 3500 women in one race is just too many to deal with from a logistical standpoint. I think it's a great first-timer's race, but I just think a lot of it is more of a hassle than a regular tri. Also, I REALLY felt (as I mentioned before) that the bike course was not safe due to the number of people. I'm surprised there aren't more serious accidents out there. I probably won't do this race again - I felt stressed out most of the race, and just didn't really enjoy myself as much as I do at other races.