I started to the outside, I didn't get 10ft before my goggles started leaking and the right side filled with H20. I was worried about my contact so tried to get it together while treading H20, but couldn't. I had to swim over to the dock to get it seeded. I thought I had done it, but it leaked again. I decided to tread water,moved my cap back and got it stuck on. If it leaked again, I was going to swim with one eye shut. It didn't. No panic during this so this is a good thing. In my head, I had planned to do the first loop easy, the second one harder and the third one hard. I didn't execute that and I am not sure why. If you took my HR I am sure it would have been in Z1. Our OWS swim coach had recommended we not run up the beach and back in the water so as not to spike HR so I walked it both times. I know it soaked up time. I did get going right away in the water and it went fine. People were around me, but it didn't bother me. Last lap, I had a canoe right on my left side all the way to the first buoy. I surfaced because it was so close and the kid told me to stay to the right of the buoy. I asked him if I'd missed one and he said no. Kind of irked me. I was right on the line the whole time. What went well: NO panic, no bloating from swallowing air, not swallowing a load of H20. What didn't go well: Being able to push myself in the H20. I am still trading speed for comfort in the water and it really shows in my splits.

T1 has a long run from the beach through the parking lot up the grass to transition area. Once again, I was 8 racks in and when I got there my bike was in a different place form my stuff and my stuff was backwards. That's not a good excuse for a poor time. Felt like the wetsuit was sucked on me so it took a while to get the arms down while running, same with the legs and they are cut off. I sat down struggled with socks and then did the rest. This would have been the difference between breaking 3 hours and not.


Practice, treat this as if it is free time towards my overall finish time.

I rode the course twice before the event so knew it pretty well. My goal was to look at my JOULE and see at least 160W on the flats and 180W on the hills. It was hot and I knew I had stood around for a long time waiting for the swim, so I started drinking H20 right away. I didn't take a watch for an alert so was periodically drinking the Infinit (run formula). Within 25' my H20 was gone. What I didn't know at the start is when my bike fell over with the racks, the H20 leaked out. I maybe got 5oz of H20. I wasn't sure how much Infinit I had, but I made the decision to keep drinking it even without the water. I was worried about fading if I didn't take in calories since breakfast was 5 hours earlier. I was breathing hard so I occasionally got burps from it, but it didn't seem to be bloating my stomach so I kept drinking it. Ingested all 20oz (53CHOs) which is a HUGE positive. I told myself at the beginning of this race I would not hold back on the bike to try to save myself for the run. I finished the first loop of that hilly section and questioned whether I had really done that so I goosed up effort for the last hilly loop to the finish. The course was long so I actually achieved 18.2mph (I had set a goal of 18mph so was happy to see the data post race).

I wonder how much faster I would have been if I cranked the first loop at a harder pace, otherwise nothing.

Same as T1

Practice and act like these matter.

By this time it was hot (90F), while it was overcast for the sprint and early Oly people we were in full sun coming out of the swim. I took two shots of my inhaler knowing the humidity might be a problem. Going in I told myself I would not walk one step, but after losing my fluid on the bike, I revised that. I gave myself the option of walking through the water stops. I drank a full cup and threw two over me. There are two larger hills and I gave myself permission to walk about 10 steps so I could take in my Infinit which I carried on my FB (ingested roughly 24CHOs). I did watch pace and I glanced at HR to make sure I was at least in Z4. Mentally I was doing well, physically even better. This is the first time where coming off a harder bike my legs felt good. I attribute that to the salt loading because i have no other explanation. It was getting much hotter and I did walk a little more on that final loop on the hills. My stomach finally had enough of the Infinit the last loop which is a little concerning. There was no bloating, some burping, but mainly taste issues. It was warm and I was done with it. What went well: pretty much the whole thing, NA was the bomb.

I didn't stick to my plan of not walking and wonder if I left something on the table. I briefly considered running the whole last loop but my head didn't get me there.

I stopped, I didn't puke and drank two bottles of H20. About 30' later I had a granola bar provided by the race. Normally I can't eat for hours after an event. I attribute this new ability to my new fueling protocol pulled together by my sports nutritionist.

I stuck around to get my AG award because I saw they were so cool. I now have my very own girl bobblehead trophy for winning W45-49.




For those that know me, the struggle remains the same, the swim. Physically I have made a lot of improvements, but the mental aspect is still more than a work in progress.


This is a great local event that takes advantage of some of the tougher terrain of the area. The perfect training day leading up to IM WI.