only had one cup of water on the run, since it was short and figured i could drink on the bike (which proved to be true). did the first mile in 8 mins, but then slowed down a bit.

not go out so fast, but keep a slightly faster pace throughout.

transition went well. things would have been faster had i had my yanks, but as it was, it went okay. decided not to wear my bike gloves at the last minute, so that probably saved a bit of time.

yanks.

the bike route was okay. the hills were moderate, so i flew up them and passed loads of people. my only gripe - THE NO PASSING ZONE! it was done for safety, and i have respect for that...but in the end it was about 3 miles of no passing and i got stuck going 16 mph or so. i heard after the fact that people were breaking the rules and passing anyway...but i was a good girl and it probably cost me at least a few minutes. i ended up coasting much of the way through the no-passing zone. seriously. before the no passing zone, i passed loads of people before hand, but still got stuck behind a woman on a quintana roo who was stuck behind a gal on a hybrid. once out of the zone i passed both of them and probably another dozen or more, then pushed really hard to pass another batch of women before the second stint. on the second stint in the no passing zone, i ended up stuck behind a woman who was going at a good pace to start, but slowly got slower so that the gap between her and the next bike was at least half a city block. i passed her right away once it was okay to do so, but then she caught me on the run at the turn around. had i been able to pass her, i would bet i would have finished ahead of her. having the no passing zone was hard for those of us who are stronger on the bike. oh well.

break the rules? nah. i'd rather drop a few minutes than end up with someone getting hurt. now, if i end up 4th in my age group, i may have a new opinion! ;)

ran passed my spot on the rack. oops! isn't it strange that both my transition times were 1:14??? spooky!

keep my eyes open.

yes, my legs were actually encrusted in cement for the second run. almost 10+ minute miles? ouch! so much for me hitting the last leg hard! am thinking the three days of hiking around town with a 30 pound toddler on my back may have played a minor role in my leg fatigue. ya think?

RUN FASTER

had a bagel and some fruit and a massage!


not having a real rest day prior to the race, bad pacing on the runs, and the no-passing zone on the bike.


this was a very fun race. it was the first all women race i've done. women are funny. they had a huge pile of the VERY nice wicking shirts left and were giving them away. women mobbed the table where they were handing them out. at the awards ceremony, they had nike bags filled with strange items. they were drawing numbers (i won one, filled with a peak bar, some vw lip balm, and a bissel spot cleaner thing-a-ma-bob), but then they just said 'who ever gets to the table first can have one of the last bags' and again, then women went running, squeeling with delight! hee hee. one very cool thing - they were going to draw numbers for a single bob ironman stroller. of course i wanted it for ME, but they ended up asking who had the youngest baby, etc...and it turned out that there was a pregnant woman who had done the race! she was in the process of getting a massage (laying on her side), and all the mamas helped wheel the stroller over to her at the table. VERY cool! i would do this race again (as long as i can pass, darnit!). i didn't bring home any hardware this time other than my finisher's medal...but i'm okay with top 10 in my ag!