Started on the outside which is something I rarely do. Took it hard at first then cut in and that worked fairly well. Tried to draft off of feet that looked to be a tad bit faster than me but they were weaving in and out too much so I just stayed along the rope. Pretty straight swim but couldn't get into a good breathing pattern. Heart rate was a bit high. No issues with goggles so that was good. 4th year of doing this tri and this was a PR swim for me by over 30 seconds.

I've really tried hard to improve my swim over the years but I'm pretty consistently slow. Until someone gives me a magic pill to propel me faster I've got to learn to stay calm with my race pace.

Breezed through with throwing down goggles and putting on helmet while grabbing bike and going. Hopped on the bike well and slid into my shoes without any issues. Of the 126 total individual participants, I had the 2nd fastest T1 time.

Nothing

Had a head and cross wind going out so knew my pace was slow. I still pumped it hard and my legs were screaming at me. They calmed down after a few miles. Passed a bunch of people and told them all "good job" but no one ever passed me. Yelled "thank you" to all the volunteers at the intersections. Didn't see another 50-55 year old female out on the bike course which made me a little worried. The tailwind didn't seem to be as strong going back so that was a bummer. Even with the wind, I set a bike PR, but by only 12 seconds. Still, I'll take it as we'd had no wind the previous 3 years.

Keep pushing to the end, especially since this was a sprint distance. I tend to get lulled into relaxing about 3/4 of the way into the bike course.

Don't know why I grabbed my sunglasses first but I did and lost a couple seconds. I was in the middle of the pack as far as my time here so nothing to get excited about.

Put on shoes first then grab the sunglasses and race number belt to put on while running out. Silly me.

Pretty uneventful. I wasn't passed except at the end by two 30-something year olds and they weren't in my AG so I didn't care. I knew I was pushing a bit past my normal comfort level but it felt good to actually race when I'd started the day so uncompetitive. I did slow a tid at the aid stations to get a little water in my throat. Although the day started chilly I've had a problem with any type of heat and the sun had come out by this time so I dumped some water over my head too. Crossed the finish line with a PR for the run - close to a minute.

Nothing really. I purposely started a little bit slower than my body wanted to go and got my legs warmed up so they responded well in the last mile by speeding up. I have no doubt I did negative splits on each mile and that's something the XC coach stressed during camp last week so he would've been proud.

Crossed the finish line with a smile, grabbed a water and immediately signed up for the free massage. Only waited about 2 minutes and the massage felt great. Went and looked at the results sheets and couldn't find my name. Started at the top of the page which listed overalls first and HOLY SMOKES - I got the Overall Female Masters award! I ended up being the 4th female out of 55 to cross the finish line and the first one over 40. I set a course PR by 2 1/2 minutes. Happy day!


Being 70th on the swim and 60th on the run. Although both were a PR for me, there's tons of room for improvement. Thank goodness for my beautiful bike which helped me get a nice plaque. :)


Always an organized race with great volunteers. It was nice to meet Nicole and her family (a fellow BTer who was doing her first tri). She did super. The post race food is second only to Winona Lake. The participation was down this year and I'm not sure why. Usually there's an extra weekend before the school start but not this year so maybe that was one reason. Not sure what will be going on in our lives next year but if I'm around I'll put this one again on my race calendar.