This year I decided to run to the pool with my cycling shoes on. There were so many small rocks in the transition parking lot that last year I couldn't run until I got to the sidewalk. When I got to the shoe kickoff area, I pointed my toe to remove my shoe and got a huge cramp in my calf. I knew I had pushed hard on the bike. But figured oh well, maybe I wouldn't be "kicking". I jumped in, pushed off the wall and kept swimming. There wer a lot of people in the pool swimming very slowly, so it was hard to get around them. They all stopped at the wall and hung on, I found an open spot to touch and dipped back down under and pushed off navigating under the lane line. It didn't make sense to me that people were hanging on and hand walking along the wall to get under the lane line. Durning the second lap a very slow swimmer was in front of me and evertime I tried to head right, she headed right, then left she headed left. Finally I got around her.

I've never been a fast swimmer. I probably could have pushed a little harder, but I didn't stop at all.

This was a reverse tri - we came in from the run and changed to cycling shoes,grabbed our bikes and went. My T1 time was 30 seconds slower than last time. I think it's because I ran so hard and needed a little more concentration to change my shoes. My rank within division was 5th. The girls that were faster ran and road in the same shoes. I usually can really rock my transitions, but I would have like to have been faster. Plus the bike out area was very congested and people were NOT running with their bikes. It was hard to navigate around them to get to the exit. I believe that still counted in T1 time. One thing I did do was pull off my visor and garmin as I ran in. I threw them in my transition bag and pulled my helmet on my head. That made more sense than waiting until I got to my spot.

Just like last year there was a huge head and cross wind on 1/2 of the course. I was able to do 24 miles down wind but really had to push into the wind. This was my first race on electronic shifting DI2. It was nice to shift whenever I wanted, but I pretty much stayed in the small chain ring. The pavement had lots of seams which were a distraction and bumps on the bikes. I pushed the whole way and pass Scott on the first lap. My new running pace mate Maya, I was able to pass on the downwind during the 3rd lap, but she ended up catching my in the headwind.

It seem to be faster in the drops. I should have tried big chain ring more on the down wind.

I was 6th in my division. I think the only way I could have been faster was to run faster with my bike. I did experience cramps when taking off my shoes just before the swim.

This was my best run EVER! I started with Jeri since I had been training with her. Our husbands were going to run together and they normally average a 10:30 pace. Jeri decided to do intervals, and I wanted to run the whole thing. I noticed this girl a little bit ahead of us and she had the biggest smile on her face. She seemed to be about my pace and I know I get less bored and don't give up if I have someone to talk to. So we started talking. She apologized right away and said when she races she get's chatty, so she would shut up if I wanted her to. I said oh no, I need to have someone to talk to. We hit the 1 mile mark and she said that was probably her faster run so far. I kept an eye on my garmin and kept our pace within 11:30 to 11:45. She said her coach wanted her to run the whole thing but she just didn't think she could do it. She encouraged me to go ahead and not wait for her, but I knew if I went to fast I would give up and start walking. I probably could have gone a little faster, but I wanted to be in good shape for the rest of the race. Within 1 1/2 miles I passed my husband and Scott who had been doing run walk intervals. They didn't like that too much and sped up. But we passed them again. We only walked through the 3 water stops. The guys were able to stay ahead of us the last 1/2 mile, but as we turned the corner on the last 1/4 mile, at 1/8th a mile out I turned to her and said, we should kick it now and I picked up speed to less than a 9 minute mile. I left Maya, but ran hard all the way into transition. I didn't realize until later this helped me close the gap with my husband and my run time was ONLY 8 seconds behind him. Pretty good considering he usually runs much faster than me. Maya was thrilled. She said that I had helped her get her very best run time ever. I said it was no problem, but I might have second thoughts if it turned out she was in my division and she placed better than me. This was a PR for me for a 5K. I know I always give up on the run, but I'm afraid to push myself and not have anything left at the end. We had talked about training and husbands and races she had done. She was an inspiration, she had lost over 300 pounds over 5 years. We decided that racing is what gave us a reason to train.

My husband says if I could talk that much then I wasn't running hard enough, because he and Scott were both out of breath. But I had a great (and fun run).

The swim was the last event and we had steps out of the pool then needed to run across the final timing matts. Steve had finished 3:22 ahead of me so we waited to watch the rest of our friends finish. I never did see Maya again. She ended up placing 9th, had a couple of minutes on the bike on me and a minute on the swim. I should have beat her since I helped her on the run, but I had a lot of fun and would do it again.
Jeri wanted to beat 2 hours and she ended up with a 1:45. Even Chris ended up with under 2 hours. It is truly fun to train and race with a group.


This is a great early season race and a great race for anyone that is doing their first tri and don't want to deal with a wetsuit and ocean swim. Chris did fantastic, but the swim was just overwhelming to her. She knows that is where she needs to work.