Estimated time: 49:00. This is based on the assumption that I was about a minute and a half slower than the second-to-last Aquabike person, who got out of the water ahead of me. No official times for me, not even my name in the results, and I have yet to receive an explanation as to why. I'm assuming it was a faulty chip. There are official race pics of me though, so I have proof I was there!

Anyway, not a good swim. The slight choppiness in the water didn't bother me; I'm used to the ocean (California, Hawaii), but the exhaust fumes from hovering boats and a jetski finally made me naseous. From that point on I had to breaststoke most of it because the rotation associated with crawl made me feel ill. That plus the usual problems with sighting, oh and I hit something underwater at one point, probably the same thing Haley hit, except I stopped and freaked out and tried to push it out of my way - it was pale, slimy, firm, smooth, and rounded, probably part of a submerged buoy or something. Whatever, bumping into it was creepy! Oh also: my race photos show black gunk on my face at the swim exit, presumably the same black gunk I was removing from my nose Sunday. Nice.

Last out of the water. THIS is why it's funny that my bike was in the best spot on the rack!

Basically I need practice, a LOT of practice, before I'll have any clue waht to improve beyond "swim faster" and "learn to sight."

Again, no chip, no clue on time. But it was fine, the only "extra" time lost was for pouring water on my head before putting on my helmet. I didn't want that nasty salt-and-deisel water crusting up in my hair all day.

Nothing.

OK, I figured my distance and time based on my bike computer. Which is a good thing, because my course was a few miles longer than everyone else's! :) Yeah, a few volunteers weren't paying attention any more by the time I got to their intersections, and I missed two turns, one very early in the race and one right at the end.

Regardless, I LOVED the ride. The course had us riding on the freeway for a while - wheeeee!!! I managed the bridge fine, was pleasantly surprised to see a "target" struggling up the incline ahead of me on the way back, and actually passed her not long after! Well she and I played a little leapfrog for a while, but when she passed me for the second time at around mile 20, I knew she had it. My energy was waning by then. Meanwhile we had both passed one astonishingly slow guy.

My roommate Alisa and her boyfriend Alan had a map of the bike course and so drove to various points along the route, parked, and waited for me to ride by so Alisa could holler encouragements. That was fun. She is the best.

I had taped one Gu and a couple of Enduralytes (in little homemade foil packets like the Gu - aren't I clever???) to my handlebars, ended up taking 1 Gu and 1 Enduralyte during the ride. That worked out well.

Overall I was really pleased with the ride. I biked harder than I ever have and loved the momentum of the gradual ups and downs, kept an average speed that met my goal, and had a blast on the bike.


Bring a second Gu so I don't lose steam at mile 20. Improve on drinking water through the ride too-- I was almost but not quite properly hydrated when I got to T2, and frankly that water bottle handoff at mile 12 saved my hide!

no run for me - I did the Aquabike

Wandered around finding people for a while, then cheered in Bill & Hannah as they crossed the finish line together - SWEET! - and hung around in the shade while we waited for everybody, ate stuff, drank water. I was sore in those hip muscles I use on my new bike, which felt good, like I had worked hard.


Mmm, I'm thinking it MIGHT have something to do with the fact that I've only been training about 5 hours a week? No, I know, I need a more expensive bike. ;) Seriously, I need to train more. Plus, my only open water swims since Christmas vacation have been during my 2 races. But I'm pleased with my progress on the bike, and know I'll get even faster by CapTex.


OK, the water is gross & I was affected by a few glitches (bad chip, no-one giving directions), but overall I think they did a good job for a first-time race. The bike course is really fun, and had a ton of police support, including police and EMT's on bicycles, that was cool. Having 2 transition areas is tough, but that's the tradeoff for ending at the SJ monument. Since this race is local for me, I do hope to do it again.