Got in and was surprised to find out that the water was cold! It felt really good though. The start was a little awkward in that they would let a group in and then do a time trial start. I wasn't exactly sure when I was actually supposed to go. Not to mention that as soon as you got in, the water was taking you backward. I had to actively swim just to maintain position.

Going upstream was disheartening, but I just kept reminding myself that it was slow going for everyone. My goggles leaked within a few minutes of getting in. I was really upset about that. I have had a lot of trouble with goggles lately. Maybe... weight loss has caused this style of goggles to not fit as well on my face any more...? Not sure, but it made me really annoyed, but I certainly couldn't stop on the upstream part to fix it. I also noticed that the river seemed to be pushing me away from the middle of the course and towards the banks. So I was actively swimming toward the middle and fighting upstream. Pretty tough circumstances.

Then we rounded the buoy - thank goodness! While I was still in the rounding phase but starting to go back down stream I got struck hard by something in the pelvis bone. I have no idea what it was but it hurt so bad that I groaned, rolled over, and yelled at a kayak person to mark it so that no one else would get hurt before I kept going. I guess maybe it was a rock, but I don't know how a rock could be up that high in a deep river. Maybe it was just a log floating by a few feet under with a limb sticking up. I don't know but it hurt pretty bad. It's still a bit sore and it's been 3 days.

Okay so I get over it and continue on down the downstream part, and that was fun because you feel like you're going so fast! Wee! I got more water in my goggles, but still continued on. One girl started cutting in on me then got right up next to me, then elbowed the mess out of my left boob!! Another groan. I was swimming faster than her so quickly overcame her. Then she started trying to draft off my feat and I kicked wildly. Not the most sportsman like but she elbowed me super hard and I was pissed.

I finally take an opportunity to empty my goggles as it's getting difficult to see. Okay so we finally get to the part that is across the river (perpendicular to river flow) and I see everybody getting swept way off course and downstream. I make a conscious effort to not do that. I think I did better than most, but not as good as I would have liked. Then another upstream portion. Then we have to climb up a ladder back onto the dock. I wondered why it was taking others so long as I was approaching and hoping that they wouldn't get in my way. Then when I got there, my legs were like lead. Haha. Ah, so everyone was just having trouble adjusting to their land legs with cold swimmer's legs. My bad everyone behind me.

If I had raced AG: 11/16

Better goggles, better technique to navigate the currents. Considering the obstacles, I guess the time was respectable.

This time includes a very long run up from the river and across hard pavement with a bit of loose gravel on it. It was painful and made my feet hurt. The normal aspects of transition went smoothly. I even had my shoes attached to my bike for this tri for the first time ever. I did kind of a stepping mount not the awesome flying mount. I'm not sure I'll ever master it. I got my feet into my shoes and on my way without incident.

Athena: 1/5
Overall: 27/91
If I had raced AG: 9/16

I need a bit of practice with getting my feet in my shoes. I have cycling shoes not tri shoes so this is a bit more difficult.

It was a very enjoyable course. They shut down the entire highway for us so no dangerous situations. It was a nice smooth road with rolling hills. The start/turnaround/finish area was fairly rough and technical so it added an interesting element. My goal for the bike was sub 1.5 hours so I was excited about this time. I alternated GUs and homemade energy bars every 30 minutes taking a GU very soon after starting the bike, then another bar, then another GU. This seemed to be working very well. Toward the end, I passed some of the slowest short distance triathletes. I kinda felt bad for them, but at least they were out there!

If I had raced AG: 12/16

Nothing, I felt great! I pushed at the right level and did awesome!

I got out of my shoes a bit early, but just kept pedaling that way. Not too big of a deal. Jumped off bike. Ran straight to my spot. Missed the rack a bit on the first try, but only lost a second. Stuff exchanged. I decided to take my handheld water bottle with me this time since the last oly distance Team Magic event I didn't have nearly enough aid stations. The bottle had been frozen solid when I took it out of the freezer that morning and was now rather lukewarm. That was rather disappointing.

Athena: 1/5
Overall: 7/91
If I had raced AG: 2/16

Nothing, smooth transition.

This was an excruciatingly painful run. It was hot and oh so hilly. I just kept myself moving and that was pretty much all I could do. The aid stations were plentiful and well stocked with water, poweraid, and cold rags, but there's only so much you can do when facing such difficult conditions.

I took a energy bar straight away because that was my schedule. Then my stomach started getting gross. I kept it together. Almost right out of the gate we went over the bridge to get to downtown. It was so steep. When I saw it, I actually said "Sweet mercy!" and some spectator said, "Last time up it!" or something like that. I said "nope, first time" and hung my head in shame. Haha.

At the start of the second loop, I was supposed to take my last GU, but my stomach was having nothing to do with that. I actually upchucked in my mouth a bit instead. Oops. That happened probably 2 more times through out that last loop. Somehow I managed to make it through to the end. I didn't have much left for my final sprint, but I crossed the finish line with my hands held high.

If I had raced AG: 12/16

I worked hard and held on as best as I could. Perhaps all this morning running is making me soft to the heat of the day.

Not much really. I was beat. I drank water and sat with hubby until I cooled down enough to think straight again. I found out hubby had gotten overheated while just watching the race! Although he hadn't eaten anything yet that day and had only had one bottle of water. I told him he was a dummy, and he'd better not do anything like that again. He was really scaring me. He looked rough. Then I got some food and forced him to eat a little. I got to feeling better and so did he. I went and cleaned up my transition area as it started to rain. Then came back for the awards ceremony.


Honestly, I thought I did pretty good. I felt proud of myself and walked out of there with head held high. Then a couple days later when I looked online to analyze the results, I found out that I had finished clearly in the bottom half of competitors, my swim was barely in the top half, my bike in the lowest 25%, and my run in the lowest 31%. I can't really explain why I did so poorly in this race compared to others, except maybe to say that this race is more competitive than other races that I compete in. It seemed to have drawn competitors from other parts of the country and wasn't just a local race. I'm still disappointed in these findings, but am trying to remain positive about my own performance.

The biggest thing that held me back is most likely my weight. When I get back from Peru, I'm starting another 30 day challenge with the goal to lose 5 lbs, and be clearly out of the 160's.