The swim start was crazy as usual. 10 people in one lane and usually half of them overestimate their finishing time. There was one guy that said he wanted to do 9minutes and I decided to be ambitious and try to draft him! Race started and we all went at the same time. After 10m I did a huge mistake because out of fear of getting kicked in the shoulder I slowed down and let EVERYONE on the lane pass me which was probably the most stupid thing ever! After 50m I started the catching up and started to pass people again but of course that took time and effort. After 200m I finally was settled behind the 9min guy and drafted him all the way to the end. Last lap i felt I could have swam a little faster but I decided against the effort of passing him and maybe getting 2-3 seconds out of it so I stayed behind and conserved the energy for later.
Official race time includes getting out of the pool and running over the timing mat which is about at the side of the pool. Luckily T took my netto swim time and even laps so I have that :)

This was a fast T1 for me. Just grabbed my Garmin on my towel on the way to the bike and then on the bike only numberband, glasses and helmet and off I was. I decided against putting any extra clothes on although I knew it would be cold! Torben had put the shoes on the bike with rubberbands but what I did not see when I checked my bike in was that the left one was in front and when I jumped on the bike I was so confused I had a hard time getting into the shoes due to that. Note to self: remind your hubby next time to out them on the right way!

They had changed the bike course from last year and instead of 3 laps on the city highway it was only 2 laps although slightly longer as the turnarounds were up on the bridges now. The course was supposed to be 18km but knowing the course well I doubted already beforehand that it would be 18km! It came out to 16.9km which is 6km less than the year before and for someone with the bike as the best event this is not a good thing!
The first km was tricky and technical as usual and I was glad to get that over with and get to the city highway. During the first km I was already so cold I was shivering the entire time. Once on the highway I jus pushed and pushed and I did not feel the cold anymore. Overtook 3 girls right away and was chasing down some more! The long downhill I was just flying and I actually thought I had headwind out and tailwind back but after the turnaround I noticed that this was not the case. But the wind was so light it did not make such a big difference anyway. The long uphill I overtook 2 more girls with high rpm spinning and I cannot believe how much easier it is to bike uphills now.
The second lap I pushed even harder than the first and at some point I was actually so uncomfortable that I thought a flat tire now would not even make me unhappy as it would mean I could stop right there and then ;) of course I was thankful I did not have a flat after all!
At the turnaround of the 2nd lap it started raining and I really did not expect that but I was glad that I only had a few km left and I felt sorry for Torben as his whole bike would be in the rain as he started in the heat 40min after me. Overtook 2 more girls during that last part. Nobody overtook me on the bike!
The exit from the highway and down to T2 was tricky once again and it did not help to have wet roads as it includes 3 sharp and tight 90 degree turns but I still managed to keep up the speed. My toes were completely frozen at that point and I was still so cold so I decided against running barefoot into T2 and just run in my biking shoes.

This was a long T2 but it als includes 150m running in bike shoes and then another 50m to get onto the run course. I also put on socks to run as I cannot run barefoot in my Asics which has custom made inserts in them.

With all the hip problems I had the last 3 weeks and the fact that one week ago I could not run a single step painfree I cannot be anything but thrilled about this run! And I ended up running a 5km PB and a faster time than in Abu Dhabi and the run course here is so much more technical with lots of turns and includes a brutal steep 40m hill which you have to run 4 times!
And I think I could have run even faster but was holding back as I felt the hip the entire time but luckily no pain at all :)
Started very controlled and try to get my legs to warm up. My toes did not wake up until after 2km though! Got overtaken by 4 youngsters right during the first 500m of the run and quite some girls after that and that was not a good feeling at all! I was 9th starting the run and ended up 19th!
The course is 4 laps and my parents, brother and our best friends were cheering us on and they stood at a place where I could see them twice during each lap and that was so motivating! Kept up the pace throughout the end and had a solid finish.
One of my goals for this race was to finish the race before Torben starts running and I made that. I was already dressed in warm clothes when he got into T2 :)

After I finished I noticed right away hold cold I was. I could hardly feel my fingers anymore and knew I had to dress fast to get warm as I was just shivering badly. The rain did not help either and somehow it all did not fit as the last 5 years the sun was shining and it was really warm during the race and once you finished you could stand in the sun and enjoy....this was sure different!