Since this was my first open water race, it's hard to compare it to my training swims. Felt pretty good throughout. Didn't kick or get kicked. Did inadvertently grab a couple butts and feet, but overall not the horror I was expecting. It was pretty fun to speak to my mom afterword and find out how relieved she was to see I'd "made it out alive."

Try harder to pee in the water! :) Will get to that in a minute.

Okay, about halfway through the swim, I realized I had to pee pretty bad. Well, what better place to relive your childhood than to pee in the water, right? ;) But as easy as that used to be, I guess mind over matter took over and I physically COULD NOT pee during the swim! I tried while swimming, treading, even on the wade in.
The whole time, I'm thinking of the irony of it all...I was making fun of my friend just this week for peeing during the run of another tri. I thought it was the grossest thing!
This story has already gotten too long, but I finally did pee...during transition before I slipped on shoes and socks. Thank goodness 1. no one was standing nearby, 2. I had my trusty feet-wash water bottle handy, 3. I had the humility to say, aw screw it! So I know exactly how I can improve my T1 time-pee in the water! :)

Go to the porta-potty TWICE!

Tailwind was wonderful! I think I was so caught up in the race initially I didn't realize that the reason I appeared to be flying along was because of that tailwind. I got my wakeup call at the turnaround! It was really inspiring to see the leaders fly past. Got a little more inspired to hunker down and pedal harder.


Beg even harder for a tri bike from my husband! haha!

Bikes racked too close together when I arrived. Hard to make space for me!
Also forgot my water bottle that I made sure I had ready. Glad there were more than 2 water stations on the run.

Not much

Felt great! Goal was to finish run in less than 40 minutes. Ran with a really nice guy that really reminded me of how we make promises to ourselves just to get to the next mile. He would run 1 minute and walk 1. For all you beginners out there like he and I, making those minute-to-minute promises are sometimes all we've got.

Run more, walk less! Goal for next tri is to run it all, baby!

Pacing, still pacing! :) Lots of fluids, but didn't have the urge to down a beer like I did for my first tri...gonna have to work on that!;) Didn't feel much like the red beans either...too hot outside.


Still have some weight to lose, still very much a newbie.


HOLY CRAP!! I GOT HARDWARE!!!!!! :) I was so surprised I got 3rd in Athena! So glad I swallowed my pride and registered athena. There's nothing wrong with admitting you're 5'3", 162lbs as long as you're getting out there getting it done and not making excuses.
This likely will be the only hardware I ever get, because I won't be an athena much longer, I've already lost 13 lbs and have been totally inspired to lose more.
Mentally, I've never felt better! I haven't been able to wipe the smile off my face since the starting line. How great is all this!!!! I LOVE THIS SPORT!!!! There was nowhere I'd rather have been yesterday.

On the whole, Abitaman was a good race. Bike portion seemed a bit long.
Didn't like the officials' excuse to eliminate the awards ceremony because of the heat. HEL-LOOO!!! We were just busting our a$$es in that heat! That seemed a pretty bad cop-out. I will definitely be back next year (barring a move out of state)!