Went into the lake and the water temperature was just perfect. Did a little bit of warm-up swimming before and the shoulder was not happy right away but I completely ignored it. Positioned myself on the left and pretty forward and I had a really good start and just kicked like crazy before settling down into a rhythm. The good thing about this lake is that there are a lot of little buoys there connected to a line about 1metre below in the water so you can follow them an swim pretty much straight. I tried to find a draft the entire time but it was not always possible which was weird as we were so many. The turnaround buoy came before I knew it. It was weird to have such a short swim until the turnaround as I have done the HIM distance there the last three years so it was always 1900m instead of just the 700m now. The turnaround was crowded but I just love it and kept swimming through.
The way back felt even faster. At some point I thought that I was swimming much too comfortable so I increased the speed a bit. Had a good draft almost the whole way back.
I stopped my watch at the bottom of the stairs where you get out or the lake and when I saw the clock I was shocked at first but then realized it was 5min less as we started 5 min behind the first wave of sport journalists and then I was just thrilled as I did not expect such a good swim.

Went up the stairs and then through the crowd. Wetsuit top off during the run and also goggles and swim cap. Lost my goggles on the ground once but picked them up fast and kept running. Into the transition area and there it was barefoot running on asphalt which sure is not my favorite thing. Once at the bike it just went perfect. Wetsuit off, numberband on, glasses on, helmet on and off I was. Bike shoes were on the bike this time. I think this was a perfect transition and time shows it as well especially as there is around 250m running included in it.

Got onto the bike and int the shoes without any problem. Put the right foot in before I went on the bike and the rest was no problem. I started overtaking people right away from the start. The first few 100m had one tight 90 degree corner and then a 180 degree turn in it and after that it was straight for a bit before turning onto the closed up highway. It sure was fun biking there! Continued overtaking people and did not get overtaken much during the first loop. As the part on the highway included two 180 degree turns so you could always see and count how many women were in front of you and I figured that I was probably in the top 8-10. The end of the first loop brings you back right by the transition area with yet another 180 degree turn. All in all we had seven of those turn on the course so that slowed the average down a bit.
In the beginning of a second loop I got overtaken by a group of about 5 riders including one female who were all biking together! That sure made me mad as they were clearly working together! I biked about 100m behind them pretty much the entire second loop and they stayed together the entire time. There were a few referees on the course but no way enough. It was also a lot more crowded during the second loop as by this time all people were on it either on their first or second loop. I just kept biking and tried to let go of the garbage (thinking about how unfair it is that they were drafting) but I had a had time doing so, so a lot of energy went into that. I need a game plan for London in case this happens again. Bike was over before I knew it and I think I biked both loops pretty even.

I went out of my shoes before the line but I did not dare to put the leg over and jump off as my feet were a bit numb and I was not sure I had enough support so I stopped instead and swan my leg over while standing. Long run on asphalt again. Once the bike was racked I put on socks and shoes, grabbed my visor and off I was.

I started running pretty fast and found my rhythm real quick. My main goal for this run was to run sub 35min which would give me a sub 5min/km pace. Settled into a pace right below that and in the beginning it was no problem holding that. Breathing was tough as it always is.
Had a sip of water at the first deinking station and also poured some water over me. Temperature wise the weather was perfect around 23C but it is still warmer than what we are used to. Keeping the pace got harder half way through but I just blocked all thoughts and kept running. I got overtaken by quite a few guys and one girls butthat was it at this point as it surprised me (still) as I am so used to getting overtaken a lot during the run. Another drinking station came and I poured more water over my head. Km 5-6 was the toughts and I had to dig deep to keep the pace! But then t got better again and I kept telling myself that the end is near! At km 6.5 I had my first doubt about the fact that the run course is only 7km as we still had quite a while to go and I could see the finish area across the lake. As I had pretty much paced myself almost all out this thought was not good but nothing I could do about it so I kept running. On top of that the last part included two small hills. There were not steep but it was still hills and at this point it was tough running up. Another girl overtook me at this point which was about 500m before the finish. Just kept running for the rest and was happy to realise that I would make my pace goal even though the run turned out to be 7.8km instead of 7!!
All in all a really good run and very even paced throughout!

Awesome race and perfect race execution.

Got 10th OA (of 272 women) and 3rd in my AG (of 51). Just thrilled with that!!