I stood next to Sister Madonna Buder at the swim start. I wished I had my camera.

I felt like I had a decent swim. I was able to site well and didn't have a lot of people around me. However, I didn't have anyone to draft off of this year. That would've been nice but I have no complaints. I did feel some seas nettles.

Okay. Here's where it started to get messy. They moved the location of the bike-out. It made for a longer trek over the field, which had turned to a complete muddy mess. Todd Wiley had told Sharon to carry her shoes out and then put them on. I thought about that and then decided that my feet would be too muddy. I ran out with my shoes on. The mud wasn't too deep at this point--one of the advantages of being in an early wave.

I thought my bike computer was messed up because the miles didn't seem to be ticking off fast enough. When I hit the first bottle exchange, I realized it was accurate.

I spent my time eating, drinking and trying to keep my cadence up. I tend to try to push a higher gear, which isn't the right thing to do.

It was depressing watching 6 people in my age group go by...very depressing!

I consumed one pack of Clif Bloks, one choc. Power Bar, 5 Endurolytes (total), one GU. As far as drinks, I finished the two watered down Gatorades I brought and consumed 2 water bottles and half of a yellow Gatorade from the course. I really dislike yellow Gatorade. I chased it down with water.

As usual, there was lots of roadkill on this course. I saw a racoon, a snake and some bird with such a huge beak that it looked like something you'd see on Jurassic Park.

Get a tri bike. It's time! (If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.)

I can hardly describe the mucky mess coming back into the transition area. There was no way I could run. The mud was ankle deep and there was a really long stretch of it. I contemplated carrying my bike but then decided I was too tired for that. I was slipping and sliding and I could feel my shoes filling up. Ugh!

As luck would have it, I had a leftover bottle of water in the transition area. I used that to wash off my feet. I Aquaphored them and put my socks and shoes on. Here's where one of those water pans would've come in handy. The transiton area was so tight, though, that there would have been nowhere to put it anyway.

My goal was to try to run the whole race (for a change). This was my fifth time in this race and I've never managed to run the whole thing. With the cooler temps this year, I finally managed to do it. I'm not saying it wasn't hot--it was, but I didn't see the human carnage this year. There were less people walking and I was one of them not walking. Yay!

I felt some blisters forming on my feet, especially for the last three miles, but I managed to ignore them. I also had the left calf cramp threatening for the last four miles or so, so I had to be careful not to push too hard.

I didn't take any Endurolytes but I did take one GU at about mile 7. I dumped the ice in my sports bra at every aid station and then it rattled until the next aid station. (I was a noisy runner.)

I had some Gatorade but mostly water. I'm very thankful that the drinks are always cold for this run.

I managed to pass two women in my age group after the turnaround. I passed about 45 people total but more than that passed me.

I saw Ed after the turnaround. He didn't seem that far back. He had started 20 minutes after me. I was sure he was going to catch and pass me but he never did.

I saw Stacey coming in on the bike as I was coming in on run. I always see her in the same section--what they labeled "the lava field" this year. She yelled something about having no brakes.

My second goal was to not need the medical tent. Mission accomplished!

I waited at the finished for a little bit for Ed but I didn't see him. I went to the transition area to get my dry clothes and to change my sneakers. My blisters felt pretty bad. After hiking over to the porta potties...way too far away...I changed and then went back to the finish area to look for Ed. I never found him. (Turns out, he was in medical.) The medical tent was far away, too. It was not close to the finish; therefore, not convenient when looking for people.

Instead of sitting under a tree resting like I usually do, I wandered around looking for Frank for what seemed like a long time. I found Bart. He told me that he thought Frank was finished but that Stacey wasn't finished yet. I realized that if Frank was finished, he'd be waiting at the finish for Stacey. When I went over there, I was shocked to see Frank finishing and he didn't look good. Just then, Ed showed up. The two of us took Frank to medical. He was having an ear problem. He said he couldn't hear out of one ear and his voice sounded really weak. He was also light headed. (They ended up not doing anything for Frank. They told him to go to the hospital. That was not happening.)

I got sunburned wandered around looking for everyone.

When I went over to the race results board, I was dismayed to find out I was 9th. I was hoping for at least 5th. I've never done worse than 5th at this race. There were just so many fast women here this year. I think that's because this is the only half ironman left that you can win a Kona slot. They fly in from all over for this race. They had announced in the morning that there were athletes from 29 different countries in attendance.


Who the hell knows?


I think this was the best year weatherwise for this race. However, the transition area mess was not too enjoyable. Lots of people were getting their bikes sprayed off but I just didn't have the energy to take mine over there.

When we were walking back to the car afterwards, one of the Cambridge residents had his hose out and he cleaned off Frank and Stacey's bike. I didn't clean mine off because the mud was dry and I was putting it inside the car.