I started out slow on purpose, because I was afraid I'd get tired and be more prone to panic. However, I ended up waaaay behind my group and DFL out of the water. (Results say one person was a few minutes behind me, but she started the bike ahead of me so something is screwy!) I know I'm slow. I didn't think I was THAT slow. I was a little discouraged and a lot bored! On the bright side, I seem to be pretty good at sighting without having had a lot of practice at it. I stayed pretty parallel to the shore. Ohio River smells like butt.

Take swimming lessons. Definitely.

Fine. Uneventful. Easy to spot your bike when you're the last one in. :)

Nothing

First hill was a doozy. I've gone up some pretty steep hills but I ended up stopping halfway through and walking. I felt so whipped and I was very very close to quitting, but I made myself keep going. I was DFL and got followed by the sweeps truck on my second lap. The driver was coaching me, which was very nice and I appreciate what he was trying to do....but honestly, it was a bit annoying. I was just trying to survive. Columbia Parkway is pretty hilly. I caught up to one person for the last couple of miles. I passed her; then she caught me and we chatted through the end. At first, I thought we'd get in trouble for drafting, but who's gonna penalize the two last place people???

Lord, I don't know. It kinda sucked (especially the hill to get onto Columbia, I ended up walking it both laps) but aside from more prior practice, I think I did all I could that day to keep my head up and do my best.

Everything went smoothly. The calf sleeves I wear due to injury are what extended the time. Dumped the remaining water from my bottle over my head, gave my fellow BOPer some encouragement, kissed my lucky stuffed turtle.

Nothing

The heat index was over 100 (109, when I checked immediately after the race.) I saw everyone taking walk breaks. I was afraid of being dehydrated but I made my stomach feel sloshy by stopping at every water stop. Went by small goals - a few minutes at a time, a portion of a mile at a time. The park was shady but I found that I HAD to stop and walk the non-shady parts. They were just awful. About 4 3/4 miles in, they had an open cooler full of ice, which I promptly scooped into my bra and down my pants. Felt SOOO good. Running Purple People hill was out of the question, and the course monitor commented that everyone had been walking it.

Really?? I don't even know how to strategize in those conditions. I ran as much of it as I could. I was getting shakes and chills by the time I finished. The time in no way reflects my running ability. I'm just glad I survived!

HEAT!!!!!


The crowd support was AMAZING and all the volunteers were so nice. They joked with me the whole time, which got me through. My goal was to finish and stay out of the hospital, and I did both.

The results seem to be a little off (though my bike and run times line up with my garmin.) I know for a fact that I was last out of the swim, but the results say the girl who I caught up to on the bike (meaning she HAD to start before me, right?) was three minutes behind me on the swim and 5 behind me in transition. She was in my wave. Also, there's one other person who finished behind me but got left out of the results entirely - not sure how that happened. She was in my wave too. So technically, my results should be out of 128!