Decent swim. The swim waves were divided in to 34 and under, and 35 and over, so there were quite a few swimmers in each group, and lots of young whippersnappers in my 34 and under group. I tried to stay on the inside and get out quickly, literally sprinting out from the start to the turn buoy. That worked ok for the most part, but it was pretty crowded on the inside. I was able to draft pretty well for a little while on the way back.

Not very much. My arms were tired at the end, so I pretty much did as well as I could. As a side note, the swim times for this race include the time to run uphill to the T area, so I'm guessing my actual swimming time was at least 20 seconds shorter than the official 7:39 (maybe more, since I'm such a slow runner :) )

Very average transition for me. Glad my wetsuit did not get stuck like in the last race (despite forgetting Body Glide at home).

Just generally move faster.

Pretty good ride for me. I wish I could get up over 17 mph average, but I'll have to keep working on it. The fact that I ride a hybrid doesn't help much. (I really must get a real bike!) As is the norm, I pass quite a few on the hills, but then get passed on the flats.

The start of this ride was a bit brisk, to say the least! It was probably around 55 or so degrees at that point, and when you're wet from the swim, it's a little chilly! My toes were actually cold for a good portion of the bike. brrr

Ate a small bit of Gu about halfway through. Tucked packet back into tri suit pocket--more on that later.

Just push harder throughout.

Slower than I'd like, as usual. My fingers were cold so I had a hard time tying my shoelaces.

Figure out the yankz laces. Ian showed me how to put them on so I'll have to do that here shortly.

This is the best run of the year for me! I'm totally surprised because the IT band flared up badly right at the turnaround. Ugh. I knew the whole run back was going to be mind over matter, and fairly unpleasant. At about the 2 mile mark, I decided that I would not think about the ITB, and instead would concentrate on cheering on people who were running out. That helped. When I could see the finish, I stopped with the "limp run" and finished with a normal run so that I wouldn't look like a dork. Mark said he couldn't tell I was limping, so I pulled it off I guess. :)

Even though the temp. on the bike was a bit chilly, it was gloriously perfect for the run! I'm guessing it was maybe 60 degrees or so, and it was sunny and beautiful. No issues at all with overheating or side cramps. Woo hoo!

Take another couple Advil, continue to rehab the @#$@* IT band.

Walked around and stretched a bit. We also did the Compex electric massage thing for quads and calves. Interesting.


IT band. Bike speed.


This is a fantastic race! By far our favorite course this year! People came out in droves to watch and cheer, which is always nice. It was great to see Ian (lincsguyus) and Dave (B_One) (who both kicked a$$ in this race, by the way!) before and after the race.

Humorous anecdote re: that Gu packet:
We decided to try out the Compex massage after the race. I'm lying there on the cot watching my legs twitch all around when I notice there is sticky goop on the little Compex monitor. What the heck?? I realize that the Gu packet from the race is STILL IN MY BACK TRISUIT POCKET, and it now totally smooshed all over me, my tri suit, the cot, and is leaking out on to the monitor thing. Doh!! I only ate about a third of it during the race, so there was plenty left to make a mess with. And the best part?? It was chocolate fudge! So my very non-loving husband (on the massage cot next to me) is sure to laugh and point out to everyone within earshot that it looks like I pooped myself. HAHAHA Yeah, funny. ;) I felt like *such* an idiot, but it really was kind of funny. (It was no problem to clean up the Compex monitor, thank goodness.) So much for trying to be good and not littering on the bike course...