The first and last third of the swim were in weedy water. When it would get too much, I'd shut my eyes when they were in the water. The last third of the race was much weedier than the first third and I had to breast stroke a bit when weeds were wrapping around my neck. I never panicked, but I was happy to be done with the swim. Did I mention that the water was 92 degrees?

Not much. This was a pretty good time for me given the temperatures and the weeds.

Straightforward transition. No problems.

I never quite got into a good groove on the bike--part of it is because I hadn't ridden or driven it before. Just did the best I could but I can tell that my recent push on the bike has helped with bike fitness. While I wasn't fast, I also wasn't antsy to get off the bike at mile 21.

Saw a few loose dogs on the country roads and that slowed me down a bit as my new technique for dealing with dogs is to prepare to clip out and stop rather than taking a tumble.

Go faster? Preview the course? I would have previewed the course at least once before race day but the route wasn't on the internet.

Because I have a blister on my heel (new shoes), I now have to stop, sit down and put on socks and shoes. Grabbed a gel and I was off.

Not much.

This has to rank as my worst run ever, time-wise, but I'll take it. It was pretty hot this morning, and add hills? Ya got trouble. I really concentrated on not blowing up. I ran just about all of the course and when things got tough, I thought about CindyK doing a HIM in equally tough or tougher conditions.

The two loop course was tough mentally because I knew I had to go back and do the run all over again. Really hard to run back up the hill to repeat the fun of the first lap.



Nothing much. I was really racing to the outer limit of my ability.

Pizza?


My ability. I red-lined it without blowing up. While I'd love to have gone sub-3 hours, I couldn't do it based on the conditions and MY condition. I do have to say that my second OD race seemed easier than my first. I guess I just knew what a three hour red-line felt like.


I only give this race an 'average' due to the weeds in the lake. Otherwise, it was fine.