The swim was great. Since this tri was aimed at beginners, they did a staggered start, one person every 3 seconds, fastest estimated times to slowest. We had a pretty long run down to the water, and it was hard to get through the mud/sand. I was worried about the water being cold, but it was actually pretty warm from the past few weeks of high temps. I got in a nice groove pretty fast. My plan was to do 5 breaths of freestyle and then 5 breaths of breastroke, and sight the bouys then. This plan worked really well actually-I was able to keep my pace and not get tired, while keeping on the course. I also tried the "spit-in-your-goggles" technique and found that it really helped prevent them from fogging up. The staggered start times definitely helped, too- I only got bumped a few times, nothing major, and didn't have any freak-outs. I felt strong and steady the whole time.

Nothing. I was very pleased with my performance. My estimated swim time was 12 min, and I was only off by 2 seconds.

I know my transition was slow, but I had no intention of rushing and forgetting something. I also wanted to be able to catch my breath a little. I used a hand towel to clean the sand/mud off my feet, put my socks and shoes on and put my helmet on. I also put on bike gloves b/c I knew the course would be bumpy- it had A LOT of filled-in cracks. Had a couple sips of Powerade and I was off. I had a little trouble getting moving on the bike, but that only cost me a few seconds, so no worries.

In the future I'd like to do this faster... I'm sure someday I'll be able to shave a minute or so off, but for now, I was happy to just experience everything.

I loved this part of the race! I had driven out the week before to ride it, so I knew what to expect, but I remembered it being hillier... it must have been the adrenaline. I only noticed maybe 2 or 3 hills. I wasn't going very fast at the beginning, due to some stomach issues, but after a nice, big burp, I felt a lot better, and sped up (especially after being passed by a few people). I ended up averaging 17.5 mph, which is the fastest ride I've ever done, so I was really pumped by the time I was finishing the ride and realized my average mph had stayed up. (The week before it had dropped considerably on the return.)

nothing!
(maybe take some gas-x before the race?) =)

I was surprised to see my T2 time so low, because it seemed to take longer. I had trouble racking my bike b/c it was so crowded, but I didn't have to change shoes- I rode in my running shoes. All I did really was rack the bike, take off my helmet, and take a sip of Powerade. I actually forgot to take off my bike gloves, though, and felt a little silly during the run!

take my gloves off, D'oh!
(or maybe not wear them next time if the course is smoother)

Of course, the run started with the usual "jelly-legs" feeling and I was pretty tired. My legs also were feeling tight, so I used the advice I saw on BT earlier, and took short, quick strides, which helped. It probably took 3/4 of a mile or so before I felt a little more loosened up. Mostly, I was just really tired, and I actually made the comment to another runner, "So is it just me, or is this going to be your slowest 5k time ever too?" I honestly felt like I was running at a 12-13 min/mile pace, and I was shocked to see the official times. I even wondered whether or not they measured the course right, but Garmin was a major sponsor, so you'd think they would get it right. (On a side note, though, I ran a "2 mile" dog-n-jog earlier this year in 11:00. Yeah. Right. I've never- nor will I ever- in my life run a 5:30 min/mile, so there have to be some mistakes.) But I'm hoping this was measured correctly. I guess it could have been, since the official time was more like my usual pace, but I was surprised nonetheless. Maybe that slow feeling is typical after pounding it out on the bike? I definitely sped up on the return, though, and felt strong enough to say "Good job!" to just about everybody headed out on the course. Something else that helped the run was that there was still total cloud cover, so it was not nearly as hot as it could have been otherwise.

Drink the energy drink instead of just water at all the aid stations. They had three places to get a drink- which was awesome. This race had the BEST volunteers!

I was so excited that I didn't stretch nearly enough, and I'm a little sore in the quads now (the day after). Not much else cool-down. I hung out with my BF, a friend, and my dog, talked with some other triathletes, and had a good time. Got some pizza and a smoothie, too. We stayed to watch them hand out the awards and then headed home, since the sun was out and in full force by this time.


For my first tri, I don't think I could have done much better. In the future, I'll have more experience and train more. I didn't get much running in before this race due to a foot injury last month, so I'm sure my run will be stronger in the future, but overall, I think I did as much as I could and am really happy with my performance.



Pretty much everything came together to make this a great race. The weather was prefect (started around 75/80 with cloud cover and a warm lake). The race was well-organized (esp for an inagural race). The volunteers were great and there were lots of them. There was also a lot of encouragement between participants. This was a women-only race and the first tri for about half of us, so there was a lot of support for everybody. I would definitely encourage anyone to "tri" this race next year! =) I'll be there!