The water was so cool and wavey, it reminded me of being a kid swimming in Lake Superior. I had a good swim. My time includes the 2 minutes it took me to run from the swim 'finish' to the transition area, but i still finished around my goal, which was 40-45 minutes.

I didn't draft at all, and stayed out too far from the bouys.

Transition went faster than I expected. I was hoping for under 3 minutes. If I add in the run from the beach, then it was more like 5 minutes! Took 4 more endurolytes with water.

Nothing.

Felt great on the bike right away. Got into a good cadence, around 90-95. I didn't look at my average speed until much later. Almost crashed at one point when I was shifting and had taken my hand off my aero bars (clip ons) and sort of swerved. Luckily I was camped out to the right to make room for all the VERY fast guys on VERY nice tri bikes, so I went into the very loose gravel instead of swerving into someone. I was probably going about 22 mph at the time, but somehow managed to get myself back up on the blacktop. Yikes. At about mile 30 or so, I ended up chatting with another woman for a while. She has three boys, so we talked about kids and racing and what not. After a while, I went ahead, then she caught up, then a few miles later, she went ahead and that was that. Checked my average speed at about mile 40 and it was around 19.9, better than I could have expected. I was feeling GREAT, watching the fast boys whiz boy. And then, my crotch started to hurt. I mean, REALLY hurt. Might have picked up some sand on the swim, because I've never had a problem with my saddle or tri suit before...but wow. OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! Every bump for the last 16 miles was painful. I tried to keep my cadence up, but was lifting myself out of the saddle for the bigger bumps and this really cut into my time. I was probably <18 the last 16 minutes of the ride. The last couple miles I sped up because I just wanted to be off my bike. I wasn't looking forward to the run, but I was very motivated to get off my bike.

My nutrition seemed to work though, because overall I felt fine on the bike. Drank the two bottles of efuel I brought with me, plus picked up 2 bottles of water to use with some gels and the efuel concentrate. Didn't use everything, but used enough. Stopped eating/drinking at about mile 45 so that my tummy would have time to absorb everything and not be sloshy on the run. My goal was to finish the bike in under 3 hours, and I did that despite the sore parts.

Maybe use some chamois cream before the race? I use it before every long ride to avoid chaffing, but never use it when I have raced in the past. Probably would have washed away on the swim, but maybe not. Body glide????

Just as I was entering transition, there was Bill, his mom, and the girls! It was SOOOO nice to see them. Once I was in transition, I started to feel like I should be done. Seeing them helped me keep going. Fresh socks, shoes on, 2 more endurolytes. Ran to the fence to give Bill and the girls a kiss each, then headed out.

Time wise, I should have moved faster and waved instead of walking over and giving kisses...but I was just trying to finish this one and needed a little lovin'!

Ah, the run. As I exited the transition area, there was Ella. She wanted to run with me...the whole run. We ran a little ways, then had to back track to find Bill so that I could hand off Ella. She and Fiona were both REALLY upset. I stopped for several minutes to hug and kiss them both. I needed that as much as they did. Ella was still crying as I started running again, but I could hear her yell a strained "GO MAMA GO! *sniff sniff*' :(

Started out with a slow shuffle. Made it to Mile 1 in 13:00...but my pace was probably more like 9:30-10:00 given the time I was with the kids. It didn't matter to me. At this point I knew I wouldn't finish in under 6 hours, but I knew I would finish and found an easy run pace that felt good, probably in the 10:00 min mile range based on my time between miles 1 and 3. At about mile 3, the music started. You'd have thought in t2 I ate a bean burrito followed by chugging a 2 liter of Coke. Farts. Burps. LOVELY! I was like a one woman band. Every time I tried to pick up my pace, it got worse. Worried that it might evolve into things much more unpleasant, I pulled way back. I walked the water stops, taking sips of my egel/efuel mix in my fuel belt bottles, and swigs of water. Alternated running and walking. Sometimes I felt good and ran for several miles in a row...followed by 1/2 mile of walking until I was able to get the music under control and felt ready to go again. This was how the rest of the run went. At the end of the second loop, I threw caution to the wind (ba dum bum). I nearly kissed the mile 12 sign, blowing it a kiss instead, and then RAN the rest of the way! At mile 13, Ella ran out from the crowd in her bathing suit and Keens, and ran the last .1 mile with me, crossing the finish line with me, and getting my finisher's medal for me.

I know I could have pushed harder than I did. My legs still had enough juice to run that last mile and even kick at the end. Just like with my first half-marathon, I wasn't sure what I might need at the end, so I kept things slower than I probably needed to. Add in all the intestinal issues I had this spring, I didn't want to risk not finishing. So, while I'm glad I slowed down....it was still a bummer for me to meet my swim and bike goals, and fart the run away (ha ha).

Ella and I found Bill, Sandy, and Fi. Checked out the food line tent and decided to bail for a real meal. Had a recovery drink already mixed up in transition. It was warm, but it was something. I was SO happy to be done, that I just wanted to head out, have a beer and a meal and a NAP. I didn't even stay around to look at results. Loaded up my stuff, then sipped on the recovery drink as we headed to the car, changed clothes (ah!), loaded the bike, then drove to Noodles and Co. for lunch. Had a beer, and boy did it taste GOOD! After that, we got some ice cream, then headed back to Rockford.


Swim: Staying so far from the bouys. Bike: Sore crotch, like REALLY sore. Run: Gas. Big picture: Not running enough, not testing out my race nutrition over longer stretches of time. Recuring GI issues this year. and TRAVEL!

Travelling to races is really tough on me. I had cramping and stomach problems before Danskin, and I think it was the travel. I didn't have problem before this race, just on the run, but I blame the travel. The long drives, not sleeping in my own bed, eating my own food, etc. puts my body out of sorts. I can take the driving if we are staying with family and I had a kitchen at my disposal to cook what I need to eat. There are HIM in Minnesota now, two actually, so I may look at doing one of those next year...but I think the only races I will travel to in the future will be races where I have family very close to the race and where I don't have to stay in a hotel.

Just like at any race, I look back and know I could have pushed harder in each event, knowing how I felt at the end and how I feel today (hardly sore at all). Since it was my first time, I just wanted to finish and almost didn't wear my watch at all.


This is an awesome event. Add in the BT dinner that Cindy set up - awesome! I can't imagine having had a different first HIM experience. Even the difficulties on the course were like a right of passage in a way, and therefore - it was perfect. The sunrise that morning, the glorious weather, the at home feeling of swimming in a big lake, corn flowers along the road on the rolling bike course, the hugs and kisses in transition, and the shady spots on the run...I found moment of joy all along the course.

Pictures soon!