Into the water we went -- out short to a buoy and left turn, then a LONG way down to the far, far buoy. Sun in the eyes, hard to see where to go. Tried not to slack, found some feet, decided that I'd try to draft, for a change. Good feet, nice pace!! But dayum, that buoy is FAR!!! Water a nice temp, though, and nice and smooth, so it was very pleasant. Knew I was toward the front but not 100% in front, tried to sight off of peeps in front of me, and let the feet I was on do the sighting as well. Really, it was a comfy swim. Long way back after the turn-around. Toward the end a couple of men started catching us, but everything felt fine.

Didn't train the swim much this year, so I'm pleased with how it went. Course was definitely long -- pace wasn't THAT slow. Was 4th woman overall for the swim, so that's good for the work I put in.

Long run up to transition. Everything went fine. Not lightning fast, but it was good.

Nada.

This course was EPIC. And boy, did it keep you honest!! Was super glad to have driven it the day before, although it did make me nervous. Knew it was open to traffic, which was a little stressful. However, a talk with a local woman before the race set me at ease a bit.

Just wanted to settle in and give it what I had, while trying to save some legs. Found a nice pace, and early on Jeff passed me with a nice shout-out and some quick conversation. Saw Zach shortly thereafter. Got passed. A lot. I'm used to getting passed since my swim is strong. But swimming strong in the first wave of women sets you up for lots of passing by the men!! No worries, my ego does not get involved and I just ride my ride.

Really tried to spin the hills as best I could. Forgot to turn off Garmin's auto-pause, so on some hills it was pausing (meaning I was going sub-3mph). Oooof. Had to stand a few times -- super glad I had my 50/34 up front, although Steve's borrowed wheels have a different rear cassette and I did lose a granny or two. Oh well. First real climbs lasted 4-ish miles. Was soooo happy to come to the descent... WHEEEEE!! About one minute later, it was over. WTF???? REALLY?? All that climbing and that's all I get? Shit!!!

Thankfully the traffic nervousness was unnecessary and after the first descent I felt fine on the roads. Reminded me a lot of CDA, only bigger/more climbs. I just did my thing, waiting for 35.5 miles when I knew the bulk of climbing was over. Tried not to pansy the descents, but I am wussy, and you did need to be mindful of traffic and curves.

Had to pee really badly -- contemplated doing it on the bike but really didn't want to. Stopped finally around mile 30 and did a quick porta-potty stop. Good call.

Finished up the hills and then it was back past the park and to the out-and-back along the Columbia river. Fuck!! Head wind going out. That sucked. Legs tired. Ready to be off the bike. Tail wind coming back. That rocked! Legs tired. Ready to be off the bike.

Could see the pros and fasties doing the run -- was making mental notes how far out they ran before the turn-around. People looked hot. Some looked miserable. Good times!!!

Maybe hammer more hills in training, but really I trained a fair amount on hills. This was just a really tough course. Glad to have ridden it and can say I did it. Proud of the effort. But I still suck on hills, ha!! (Note: Average speed for first 35.7 miles was 13.4, and 21.3 for next 12 and 19.7 for last 7 -- ouch on the hills!!)

I always love getting off the bike!! Get to transition... and someone else was in my slot!! NOT OK!!!! Tried to find a spot to cram my bike in and then get to my stuff, which was all crowded out now. Had to pee really badly. Sat down to do shoes and tried to pee... tried and tried and tried... finally!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. That was awesome. Spray sunscreen and GO!

Bitch-slap the chick who took my bike slot?? Nah. It was fine. Whatever.

I wanted to do a 2:00 run. (I also wanted to bike faster, but quickly put the kabash on time goals after driving the bike course.) I knew when I was riding the quads were feeling trashed. But I just wanted to put in my steady run, so off I went. Oooof. It was HOT. (I don't do heat.) Legs were heavy. I quickly realized my legs could be in danger of giving out entirely, so I decided I'd walk aid stations and focus on keeping cool and getting in liquids.

Saw Zach right away -- in my confoozled state, I thought he was almost finished, since I was at mile 1 and he was going the opposite way. Damn! Awesome! He was gonna beat me by about 1:45. NICE!!! Later on I passed the 4-mile mark and realized that was where I had seen Zack, before the out-and-back, so he was only about :30 ahead of me. Great!!

So I ran, not obsessing about pace, just running to aid stations. It was like the IM game -- just run to the next aid station. "I can play this for 13 miles," I said to myself! Then the game became to notice people in front of me who were walking... and to know that I would be passing them soon. That was fun -- just slowly reel 'em in and pass 'em. I got passed a few times, but not many.

Of course as the run progressed, aid station walking became a bit more broad, but I never walked outsid eof aid stations with the exception of hills leading up to the road from the paved trail.

Run was hard. At each station I'd put ice in my shirt, drink some water, carry some ice, dump some water, just try to keep cool and get moving again. Moved to coke later in the run. Saw Jeff and Zach -- Jeff still leading but could see the gap closing. Would have loved to have seen the finish!!

Around mile 10 I was running out of steam mentally. Got into my Chomps and worked on those a bit -- it helped. I was ticking off the miles and getting closer.

Last mile, getting close to the end, can hear the music -- yeah!!! Was watching for family (who I had told not to hang out all day, just meet me at the end, please!), and the music I heard was Rhianna's Hopeless Place. Oh, how I HATE that song!! Hate hate hate!! Just my luck, I'm gonna finish to a song I hate. Wondered if daughter Shea could hear it -- she knows how much I hate the song. And then I see Keller!! Yay!! I wave! He's all clueless. I wave at Kate and Emma, and I want to shout but that is hard to do! Keller finally sees me -- yay! I pick it up, I wave at the kids to join me, we're on the grass... damn, where is Shea? I turn and look and she's back there, "Mom, WAIT UP!!" Ha! Not a chance!! "No Shea, YOU hurry up, c'mon!!!" She got my hand -- "Eeeewww!! You're all wet, gross, Mom!!" LOL! We run down the chute together... LOVE being done!!! Get greeted with an ice-cold towel -- HEAVEN!! Get big hugs from Linda telling me how awesome I am! Time for my post-race cry! See Dave and Kate and Emma... hear the music, it's not Rhianna, yeah!! It's Awolnation's Sail -- perfect for this grunge girl!! Oh, what fun to finish long races!!!

Hard to know. It was a hot day and a tough ride. I just endured. I passed people and ran as best as I could. Can always train more, but this year is all about balance, so I get back what I put in. Feel like I put in more running, but not off of rides like that one!! Pleased.

Hugs and Gatorade and I really wanted to jump in the lake. Worked my way over there, but was immediately drawn to the kid's water play area with LOTS of cold water. Wandered into the middle and got hammered by kids who were more than happy to squirt me. Took a lovely shower in there -- felt awesome!!!

Walked around, hugs, drinks, picked up my burrito to eat later, and then pretty much hit the road!


Hills and heat, but who cares. It was a great day and I'm proud of it all.


WE LOVED REV3!!! Small race, lovely venue, super nice staff. My family gives it major thumbs up. It was great racing with Linda, Julia, Zach, and Jeff. I always love having my family at races, but know it's hard for them. This was perfect as they spent the day with friends and were happy to be with me at the end. Loved it. Hope to do it again someday!!