got in line with my wave - #19 (nearly an hour after my mom and aunt went out in their wave!). and then...I SAW HOLLIS! team javelin trisuit, same age, BT TATTOO! HOLLIS! it was SOOOOO nice to run into her. my mom and aunt went out together, and my cousins would go out together (in the mixed age group wave), so hollis was my serogate sister for about 10 minutes. thanks hollis! oh, and she also inspired me to not look at my watch...or use my timer...or do any splits. :)

nothing (other than actually train for the swim). this was my fastest swim in a race this year! i must have been possessed by kelly for this swim! :)

considering how HUGE the transition area was, i'm very happy with this time.

didn't push too hard on the bike. paid attention to SAFETY first, since it was really crowded, and my cadence second. only looked at my speed at the very end, which said '18'...so that goes to show how big the transition area was! i passed a lot of people on the bike, and was only passed by 2 people - one gal in race undies and on a tri bike (zoom), and a woman from grand performace bike shop, a shop here in st. paul. i rode a little harder to catch up to her and said 'go st. paul!' and tell her i ride for county cycles. she said 'right on'...and then i passed her. a few miles later, she passed me, but i was just ahead of me most of the ride after that. the WHOLE time i was riding i was watching for my mom and aunt. i didn't think i would catch my mom on the bike - she is a strong biker for her age and had an hour head start. my aunt was very worried about the bike leg though, and i thought there was a slim chance i might see her towards the end. no luck finding her though. i really slowed down a lot and gave lots of warnings of 'on your left' when i was in crowded areas. my mom said not all the faster bikers did that, which is frustrating, since this event is supposed to be a supportive environment for first timers. anyway, i still had a good ride that was over before i really found a groove.

not have my seat up so high. felt fine on the trainer, and fine on the ride, but hoping off i almost fell over after getting my leg caught up on the saddle!

again, considering the size of the transition area, this was just fine.

the best thing about the run was seeing my MOM!!!! where the course turns for the out and back, there was a water station. my mom was coming back from the turn around and was on the other side of the water station. i yelled 'MOM!!!! YOU ARE FABULOUS AND 65!!!!' we got closer and i said 'i'll try and catch up to you and we can cross together' well, she only had 1/2 a mile left...and i had about 1.5 miles left. she only had about 7 minutes to get to the finish line at her pace, but i had 14! so, i never did catch up to her, but it was still a good motivator to keep me moving in the heat. i didn't see my aunt during the run, which made me nervous, especially after seeing my mom. i started to worry that maybe she had problems on the bike and had to drop out, but i hoped for the best. i crossed the finish line with a kick-a** kick, passing about 30 people. the announcer even said 'here's autumn connell coming in for a STRONG finish!'

go faster. i really didn't push that hard, but if i had, i might have been able to cross with my mom. yet again, my ranks illustrate my areas of strength and weakness quite perfectly!

found my mom, who had been waiting just past the finish line for me, and gave her a HUGE hug. then i saw fiona on the shoulders of my brother-in-law, john, so i scooped her off his shoulders and carried her with me. my mom and i got our finishers' medals together. then i saw bill, and ella, and bill's mom, sandy. lots of big hugs. then ella wanted to go see the jelly belly car and go to the kids area. so, they went off to do that while my mom and i watched for my aunt and cousins.

my aunt eileen came in a little while later. i had the sign ella and fi had made for her. i cheered so much my throat still hurts. she was just beaming. we caught up with her just past the finish line, after she had her medal, and we all hugged and cried. she has been a care giver to so many people, it was fantastic to see her glory in the stong, amazing woman she is. it was a huge accomplishment for her. we waited for my cousins, who started about 30 minutes after me. after a while, we were worried we had missed them, so my mom and i decided to check under the willow tree that was to be our meet up spot if we got seperated amid the 4000 racers and many many spectators. just as we were about to go, they started to read off the age winners. i wanted to listen. i knew i wouldn't place, would be lucky to even get top 10 in my age group, but i wanted to wait and her my mom's age group results. my mom wanted to go, but i said 'no, wait, let's just listen to them all.'

'and next, in the 65-69 category, in third place, from duluth, minnesota, KATHLEEN CLARK!!!!! GO MOM!!!!!!!! she practically jumped out of her shoes. she was so thrilled. i didn't need a camera or video for that moment, because it will be burned in our memories forever. i am SOOOO proud of her. racing at 65 is an accomplishment by itself, but to place too - my mom kicks a**!!!!!

after we visited the winners' kiosk and picked up my mom's prize (a $75 gift certificate to danskin.com), we headed to the willow tree. no one was there, but by the time we got back, both my cousins had crossed the finish line. i'm sad i didn't get to see them off at the start, or at the end, but i was SO happy that they had both finished. the rest of the day involved sitting in the shade, playing with the girls, juggling 10 people, waiting in lines, saying good-bye to our cheer-leaders (bill, the girls, john, and sandy)...and then waiting to leave, etc. we got home, showered, then took a taxi to a mexican restaurant and had a great birthday dinner for my aunt.


i wasn't aiming for fast. i didn't use my watch. i just wanted to have a good time and be at the finish line to cheer for my aunt and cousins!

(okay, but of course i still think about this one - travel throughs my system off balance, sleeping in a strange place, eating out, etc.)


danskin gets a 4...it was an AWESOME event, with lots of volunteers, and a great venue, and so many amazing women participating. BUT, it was SO big, that everything took a reeeeaaaaallllly long time. this ended up being really hard on the first time triathletes i was with, and for my husband and kids. the lines for the port-a-pots were really long, and the line for the shuttles back to the parking area was insane. still, it was a great race, and it was a VERY good experience overall for my mom, aunt, and cousins. i don't think i'll do it again any time soon...but who knows.

(btw, no age group ranks are listed. there were SO many people, i tried to guess at my placement by scanning through the top 100 in my age group - in general, top 10% overall and age group, 10% on swim for both, top 5% on the bike for both, top 25% on the run for both).

PICTURES COMING SOON!!!