I learned a lot on this swim. I swam a lot of open water in CA but it was really different here. I tried to get into a Zen moment on the swim and didn't hit it until after rounding the second buoy. I was just too cold and I felt like someone was crushing my chest and I couldn't breathe. I also sighted poorly (get new goggles!) and started too far off to the side; I had to cut back quite a bit and almost ran into a kayak. The first 100 m or so I had to stop and breathe for a second because I was just swallowing too much water and felt I was choking. This was disappointing as I have swam in open water a lot lately. This open water, however, was significantly different from where I was swimming.
It wasn't horrible (well my time was:)) but I did learn a lot! It was nice to be feeling the rythym on the last length.

a) Use a wetsuit
b) warm up more
c) not start off so much to the side
d) swim more recently than a week before the race

This was a loooong transition where you came up the boat ramp, threw your shoes on, and ran .5-.6 miles to the transition area, put on your stuff, and had to run your bike a long way through the grass and over the bridge. I have to admit I felt awesome running out of the water and weaving through all the people with wetsuits on, throwing my shoes on, and trucking it. I even heard some guy yell, "you're tough!", which made my day:) I hated having to run my bike that far as there were just too many people in the way and a big cluster at the edge where you got on your bike. I luckily narrowly avoided getting plowed and plowing someone else:) I thought I would be somewhat self conscious running that whole way in just my swimsuit, but I didn't care at all. There were a lot of people walking and not one person passed me in transition. This could be due to the fact that it was mostly slower people because my swim time was so slow, but still:)

I laid out all my gear carefully before in the order I knew I would put it on. This worked well. I tried to bring a balloon to mark my bike, but it was raining so the mylar was wet and it got weighted down instead.


I just kept my swimsuit on and threw my race belt and biking shorts over the top. I also put some unwrapped gum in my helmet to throw in my mouth, which was a great idea!

a) not sit on the ground to put my shoes on. I did this and had gravel and dirt all over me. I was too impatient to wipe it off before putting on my bike shorts and it really ground into me.

b) Bring a latex balloon to mark my bike. I found it because it was in the last row, but not thinking clearly still scrambled to find my bike. This cost me a few seconds, but I felt flustered.

c) Go faster! :)

LOVED the course! It was really fun! I was even cheering out loud (like hooting and hollering or whatever) coming down the hills that fast. I passed a lot of people and got SMOKED by some Oly guys. Man they were fast. Humbling to watch them go by and I def enjoyed it.

a) get a tune-up before the race
b) do better eating my hammer gel. I finally finished my only packet right at turn around because I made myself down it.
c) drink more.
d) ride faster!

I had one shoe off and was working on the other until the girl in front of me put her bike at a dead stop. I narrowly avoided slamming into her, but was able to jump off my bike with the one shoe off and run in. I had a hard time finding where my stuff was, but it didn't take me THAT long. No complaints here! :)

I was so annoyed with my shoe that I just pulled the tongue halfway thru instead of all the way up. I don't care if it was changed at all, since my speed laces held my shoe on tight and it was only 2.7 miles. I was glad I had speedlaces because I didn't have to mess with it.

a) get my other shoe off
b) run faster thru the grass

My goal was to make it through without walking. I didn't meet that goal, but hopefully next time. The leg just hurt too badly. The run course was great, though! I ran where I could, then hit a hard sprint at the end. Some girl even came up after the race and said she was trying to catch me the whole time but couldn't. That made me feel good even though I was slow:)

a) run while drinking the water. I stopped to drink it and that cuts the time.
b) train on some more hills
c) run faster!

Stretched a little, took some pics, ate some grapes, sat down and elevated leg.


I loved this race! I thought it was well organized. There were two things I thought could be improved. THe first thing was the shuttling. We ended up riding our bikes back up to the parking area, which was up a huge hill. Not cool after you do a race. We beat back those who were waiting for the shuttle, though, so it was a good choice. Second, everyone was in the way for some of the Oly athletes coming in. This was really frustrating for some of them as they had to yell at people to get out of the street.
Other than that, the race was great, I had fun, I just want to be faster next time! I would have gotten 3rd place if I had registered as an Athena!! Oh well!