The water was so cold, I thought my face was gonna fall off! I am so glad I had the wetsuit. I felt very buoyant and warm. My stroke wasn't affected by the suit, but the temperature definitely slowed me down. I went a little off course just to avoid congestion (and to protect my shoulder), but kept swimming the whole time. Surprisingly the salt water didn't bother me too much.

I would push myself a little bit harder and focus on long, efficient strokes.

No problem getting the wetsuit off!

Rinse off my face and feet. The salt kind of got to me later on in the race. Put my wetsuit somewhere else, not on top of the blanket I used to spot my stuff (affected T2 quite a bit).

I have never biked so hard in my life. A few little hills at the beginning, immediately followed by a 1.2 mile hill. It seemed to never end. I kept a steady burn the whole time, knowing that the faster I went, the sooner it would be over. The downhills were awesome, reaching almost 33 mph. Then they hit us with a deceiving little steep up hill that almost brought me to a halt. Luckily I had a girl just in front to chase. Towards the end of the course, I starting thinking about getting my legs ready for the run, it was gonna be tough.

I would have trained on a lot more hills. My muscles just weren't prepared for that kind of work.

With the wetsuit on top of my american flag towel, finding my spot was difficult. I took a second, looked at the numbers and finally found my stuff. The elastic laces made it nice and easy to pull my shoes on my feet (which were asleep). Took one second to blow my nose, put on my race belt and then I was off.

Make sure I could spot my stuff!

The first half mile was trying to get feeling back in my feet and not let my calves cramp up, at a slow steady jog. After a delightful passing by Scott, I picked up the pace. After the next mile, the inside of my left ankle was in a lot of pain, probably from running on the angled slope of the side of the road. I kept on going, and could go a little faster towards the end.

I would try to run on a flatter surface, and train on some hills. I would also try to push myself harder in the last half, rather than just finish.

Just a little jog and stretching. Then plenty of drink and food.


Probably not enough training on hills, or weight training to get the muscles ready. I also think that training in cold open water would have prepared me more.


I had so much fun! Being able to finish a goal I have had gives me such a feeling of accomplishment. I would not have bet on me getting to this point after dislocating my shoulder, getting mono and working on my qual exam this last winter and spring. Although I didn't feel like I was in my best shape ever, I am still proud that I stuck with the training and made it through the race. It was great to be there with Scott and Neil for their first triathlon, and I think it's got them hooked. I have planned to do the Black Diamond Olymic Triathlon at the end of September, but this will require me to really pick up on the training and I might just do the sprint distance. Anyway, it was a challenging and rewarding race that has really given me lots of motivation to keep on with it!