I started a little fast - partly adrenaline and partly because I was distracted by crowded lane issue. I felt a little breathless after the first 100, but at least I had the side of lane to myself now. I tried to think about the technique I had been working on recently (not bending the knees, pausing slightly before starting the pull when breathing), but I felt a little out of whack physically and mentally.

The way I count when I do an 800 is 1 - 16, then 16 - 1 (I figured I didn't need to count the last 25 ;) ). I was counting back down and was on lap 6 in my head when I was counting down when realized that I should have been on an odd number. It made more sense that I had repeated the 6 than skipped ahead two numbers, so I figured I had five to go. When I thought I had finished my 800, I didn't see the red sign in the water indicating that I had just the 25 left. At the risk of swimming too little, I kept going. I got the sign after the next 50 and swam the last 25 hard. I pressed lap on my Garmin and saw 14:09, which was better than I have done in the past, but slower than I expected. Gasping, I flopped myself up on the deck and made my way to T1.

After the race, I checked out my splits and the counter was correct. I am not sure why my official swim split (13:50) and the time I recorded were so different.

Try to pay more attention to my counting. Start a little slower. Focus on efficiency.

This is an unofficial time. All transition times are included in the bike splits.

I had set up my right shoe on the left side, which took me a few seconds to figure out. Other than that, pretty uneventful.

Set up better!

I headed out on the the bike course not knowing what to expect from myself. I feel like I am becoming a stronger rider, but I have not had much practice riding in my aero bars lately. I need to feel very comfortable to use them. One of the nice things about this course is that we get a whole lane of traffic coned off for us which helps a lot. I have a mental problem riding in the aero bars if I feel like the path is too narrow. This feeling kicks in even when I know that the path is wide enough for my capabilities. There is a good-sized bike lane on one of my ride routes, but I almost never use the bars on it. I pretty much only go aero when I use the smooth multi-use path close to my house.

Anyhow, I pull out onto the road and the readout on my Cateye is bouncing between the 80s and 90s. This is normally my MPH field, so I scroll through the fields as I am riding and nothing makes sense. I'm trying to do the miles to kilometers conversion in my head, but I know it's still to high. Maybe the unit has a low battery and is displaying garbage? I finally notice that the small number is showing low 20s. Somehow, my cadence and MPH got flipped on the display. I did have my chain replaced at the shop the day before, so maybe they did something or the settings got changed inadvertently. Oh well. At least I had some feedback on my speed and cadence now. I might have lost a little speed while messing with the thing, but there was nothing that could be done now.

The course wasn't too crowded, and for the most part, when I had to pass people, it was easy. There was one spot where I had to pass two riders at the same time, but it went well. A few uber-aero looking dudes passed me. I didn't see or hear some of them until they were right next to me, and they passed really close. It always makes me nervous. Sometimes I wobble in aero. I might also veer one way or another if there's junk in the road. I do the "On your left" thing when I'm passing unless I have a really wide berth.

I still slow way down when I turn, but I think I did a little better. My Garmin file from the last race is no longer showing the charts, so I can't compare. I didn't spend too much of the first lap in aero, but I felt a little more comfortable the next two. I probably spent 20% of the ride in the bars. The road conditions on Euclid make you feel like a kernel in a popcorn popper, so I didn't even attempt it there.

I took a few sips of water on the ride and no calories (I usually don't with a sprint). I had a few hunger pangs toward the end of the ride, but I knew I was plenty fueled to finish the race.

All in all, I felt I rode at a hard effort, but I wasn't totally cooked when I pulled into T2.

Practice the skill parts of cycling. I am good at making time in my training for workouts, but not good at working on technical areas.

I added 11 seconds to my transition split based on where their official was sitting. I hit the lap button when I leave the transition pen, but they record it a little bit into the run course.

I headed out on the run, settling in to what I felt was a good sprint tri pace. I have made the mistakes of starting too easy and too hard. This is my 8th sprint since I started racing last year, and I feel like I'm getting the hang of it.

I took a the water cup that was offered at the start of the run course, Shortly after thereafter, I saw Team M and gave them a little cheer. I took another cup as I reached the mall area (runners go by this station twice, so there are three opportunities to drink). Sip, dump, toss...

Team M's sister and mom were on the side of the course and cheered for me. She even got a few pictures (including the one attached to this report). Based on the picture, it looks like I did a good job of running tall. I kept trying to focus on staying light on my feet and putting forth a good effort. I was passing a fair number of people, but I kept looking ahead for Elaine and Chrissy. Two men passed me on the course. There was one guy who sped up as I pulled up along side, but after a half mile, he dropped back.

I saw Elaine with about a half mile to go and was able to pull ahead. As I neared the finish line, people were cheering. I didn't recognize anyone, so I didn't know if they were just cheering because they were spirited, or if Elaine was on my tail and they were cheering for her. I didn't look back and summoned the best kick I could. I had that pukey feeling that we all know and love when it was over, but it didn't last too long. Elaine finished 7 seconds later. Chrissy had finished 49 seconds before me. Team M finished about 20 minutes later.

I am really happy with the run. Nothing comes to mind other than figuring out how to not chafe. I got a little hotspot just under my ankle bone on the right foot. I had Body Glided it before the swim. The weather wasn't an issue.

A little walking, a little talking. I got some orange slices and cut-up banana from the refreshment table. I found out that Elaine had swum an extra 50, which certainly counts for more than 7 seconds. She and Chrissy are in one of the whippersnapper age groups, so she's not my direct competition. Still, it's fun to compete against people that you know of similar ability, and I expect there will be more close races next year.

I had to leave before everything was tabulated for the awards ceremony, but I ended up getting 2nd in my age group (and a Tinfoilman trophy) and I missed out on the Overall Female Series award (combined time of all three Tucson Tri races) by 7 seconds. To Chrissy :)

On a personal note, my goal for this race was to finish in the 1:13s and I just made it. So far I have improved my time every time I have raced in this series, so I will call the season a success. A lot of my friends set course PRs as well, so it was a good day.



Getting flustered in the swim, bike handling, and according to one friend not having "a modern bike."


This is a well-run sprint series. The course isn't exciting, but you can go fast and hard, which makes it fun.