My warm up was great and I felt good and pumped to start! Even though they decided we should go clockwise instead of the anticipated counter clockwise, I decided it was not a big deal (obviously just the mental compenent there). I started as far inside as possible since I tend to drift out. We all cheered as the time counted down and we were off! Great start until I had to start swimming. I don't have very much OWS experience (less than 10x in my life) and the waves/chop really threw me off. I did a hybrid freestyle/breast stroke (which was hot, trust me) to the first buouy because I simply could not get a rythym. This was really frustrating and I wanted to seriously just drown but looking behind me and still seeing red caps kept me going. I was almost to the first buouy and got stuck in a lot of chop and was so disoriented and sick to my stomach that I puked in the water. I am sure everyone else really appreciated that. Hopefully no one had their mouth open behind me or they will likely not do another tri.

After that little event things smoothed out pretty well. I started feeling it after I turned the corner on the buouy. I felt it so much that I swam right into a kayak. That's right; I extended so well that I slammed into it with my hand. Very surprised, I stopped and looked up to see a sheepish teenager in a kayak yelling "Sorry!" and trying to get away. If I was actually fast, I would be mad, but since I am sure there was a man floating on a raft faster than I was swimming, it was just funny. Actually I was pretty annoyed but it is funny now.
I continued to feel it until I rounded the next corner and somehow ended up underneath the buouy. No, don't ask. I don't know how. End of loop one and the sprinters had just started. This caused kind of a clusterf*&^ and sucked as I kept running into people, but I was hitting a rythym so I didn't care that much. The rest of the swim was great (post first buouy) but I might have gone sans wetsuit; I was a little warm!

PS The old adage of "don't try anything new on race day" is an old wive's tale. I used new goggles because mine broke and they ROCKED. Much better than my goggles that were tied with a knot and you had to squint one of your eyes since the elastic broke so many times. But don't try that on your own unless you are an elite triathlete like I obviously am.


-I need to sight better.
-I also need to draft off people's feet, but I have a very strong fear that someone will kick me either in the face and I will lose my teeth or kick me in the shoulder, it will dislocate and I will drown before a kayak gets to me.
-I need to swim faster. Everyone says this and thinks this, but in this case it is true! :)
-I need to not puke in the water. I am pretty sure this goes without saying.

I loved this transition! I came out of the water and let the strippers do their work. We pulled it down to my waist and then they stripped it right off my legs like a banana. I thought about the post I read earlier this week when the strippers took a guy's swimsuit with them so I held onto my shorts just in case. I got to run up bleachers/stairs to the bikes, which I loved!

David stated later he did not like the stairs as he was woozy coming off the swim and ricocheted between the stair railings. I almost wish I had done the sprint just so I could have seen that.

I got up to the bike, threw everything on and took off.

Nothing: i am pretty happy with my transition. Since I am always one for improvement, however, I woudl change that I only saw like 4 Oly bikes there by the time I was done swimming.

My spedometer was not working during this, which was probably good. I simply went as hard as I thought I could and make it still on the run. The first climbs were hard, but I felt pretty good and passed a bunch of people.

After the first few climbs it was fairly flat until we turned back towards the lake. There were people on the course yelling "Welcome to Paradise!" after the hills which I thought was SO stupid until I realized on the second loop that we were entering a town called Paradise. OK, I guess that's allowed since it is the town and not just the post-hill ride.

I kept leap frogging with one lady but she dropped me in the second loop. I was upset, but then got over it because I was doing what I could.

Mentally this part of the race was really hard for me. I felt like I had no competitive edge and it was hard not passing a bunch of people on the bike. I started to get really upset when my leg started hurting and I could not get it to stop. The swelling stayed down but that same old pain came back and it made me super upset. Suck it up, kid. That's life. I just didn't understand how I could ride more than 4 hours last week and be fine, but here it hurt after 1 hour.

Downhill? Loved it. Wanted more of it.

My bike speed is the best I've had in a race so far, so I can't complain too much!

-Learn how to drink and spin at the same time. I have to stop spinning when I drink water.

-Get aerobars. I kept trying to go into the drop down position but without aero bars, it feels a bit dangerous.

-Keep riding lots! I'm seeing some improvement!

Jumped off the bike, ran in, ran out. Felt good. Short, sweet, to the point.

The first part was tough and I had to walk a bit on the hill. About the first mile was really miserable, then I was able to pace ok and control the pain so it was good! I spotted people in front and focused on the "slow and steady wins the race" theory of passing. Yes, it even worked! I saw Drew coming back, then Brett. I drank at two stations, then had them throw water on me at the rest. I find that is better for me than drinking because I am cooler.

At station #2 there was a girl playing the violin and a man playing guitar. I thought that was really cool and very appreciative of the noise as I mostly heard people grunting "good job" as well as my own gasps of air up to that point. I passed a mama being cheered on by her kids (SO cute!) and a girl who was in my AG. I decided if nothing else, she was NOT going to beat me. Once I passed her, she did all she could to keep up but I was too speedy! Not really, but not stopping at water booths helped.

I spotted Brett about mile 4. He was having kind of a tough time, so we chatted for a bit and then decided to truck in together! That was a lot of fun and it was great to chat with him and pace in. It helped me A LOT and lifted my spirits quite a bit. It's good to know there are high quality people in this sport.

After a big hill, we sprinted to the finish!!

Grapes, water.


What a great surprise! I was coming back to pick up my shoes and I heard my name on the PA system! I didn't even know where the awards stand was, so I walked around in a daze trying to find it by following the announcer's voice. Seriously, could I look like more of an idiot or like I was out smoking some kind of dope after the race? The answer to that is likely no. 1st in Athena, 2nd in age group. I would be more stoked if I was happy with my time, but hey I can't complain!! I was really discouraged after the race and told everyone I was selling all my equipment, but I feel much better about it today. Now I just want to get back to some training! It was great having my sister there as well as meeting Drew and Brett; they did great!

Time to get back to training! I have a LOT of work for my HIM in Oct!

I did learn a lot during the race. I questioned my training and competitive edge, but after more time has passed I am OK with the learning experience.

I need to train more, but also train smarter. It's time to be an adult and do that! I also need to join the Utah BTers once a week as it is just not the same training solo!

PS if you want to see pics, there are some in the album.