The swim was crazy. I had to stop and tread water a few times because of the other swimmers. I had one person swim right in front of me going in another direction. There isn't much you can do about that but stop and wait for them to go by. I was trying to catch someone's wake, but I couldn't get behind someone that was my speed or faster so I kept running into their feet. I rounded the big poufy bouy like a pro - I wish there was a video camera on me, it would have been one to show "how to do it right"! By the time I started getting toward the end of the swim, the fast swimmers of the novice wave were catching up with us. I always hate this part because this is when I get beat up the worst. I had one guy knock my face and another grabbed my arm as I was about to put it in the water to stroke. I couldn't see the end, so I just followed the other swim caps. I did waste time by trying to stand up too soon. I hate it when I do that! I think the T1 time is included with the swim time. I looked down at my watch and it was a minute (or so) less when I crossed the chip sensor going into T1.

I need new goggles. I can't see too well through them...they are scratched, and fog easily. I also need to just get my swim faster and stronger. I know I am not the fastest swimmer, but maybe I should let people swim through me for once instead of me trying to swim through them. I also should just swim to the shore until I touch the bottom with my hands.

I thought my T1 time was pretty good, though at this point I don't know what it is. I decided to do a gu this race as it seemed to really help me in the last race. I put it in my shoe before the race and threw it between the girls in my tri suit until I got a chance to eat it.

I need to learn to have the shoes clipped on the bike and put my bare feet in them on the race. I think I would go a lot faster if I did this.

I jammed on the bike! I felt good and pushed it hard. I passed several of my competitors during the bike (though they kept up with me). I only got passed once and then I passed that guy right on the next hill. Oh yea and I almost got hit by a snot rocket - gross!

I really would love to break the 20 MPH mark. I know I can do it. I guess I need to really work on hills in the off season.

I really wanted to try and get my transitions down. This was a little longer than I wanted, but I am ok with it. I have been wearing bike gloves since I am having the numb issue in my fingers, so I know that takes some time...but I wear the gloves anyway. I came in 2nd for the fastest time in my group so I can't be too upset with that.

Well as I mentioned before, I passed Brandy - this girl that I have been competing with since the start of the series (who happens to be very nice) on the bike...I knew she was behind me close, but I didn't look back to be sure. I know that we left the T2 at the same time. I thought if I can just stay within spitting distance, I can catch her. I tried SO HARD to be right behind her on the turn around so she wouldn't see me, but she looked back and about jumped 2 feet when she saw me. It was funny. I kept up with her pretty much the whole way until we got to the last water station. I was really out of breath and I took a BREATH of water instead of a gulp...and the water went down my lungs. I stood there and coughed and almost puked for what seemed like forever, but probably a few seconds. Anyway, I tried really hard to catch her, but in the end she beat me by 11 seconds. It was ok - having her right there made the race way more interesting and made me push harder. I was going to not push so hard for this race and go for the PTC race next week. Well I guess my competitve spirit just forgot all that. It turns out that the 1st place Athena finished just maybe 10 seconds before Brandy so we all finished within a minute of each other. It was close! How can you not be happy with that?

Have Don there! I missed him so much! Brandy's husband was there toward the last part of the race, and ran a little ways with her...I thought that was so nice and it made me really miss Don. I wish he could have been there.

Walked around waiting for results - it took forever as usual. The awards thing always starts late..today was no exception...it was 30 minutes late. Ate a banana, talked to some of the other racers...made some really nice friends with the other Athenas.


It would have been nice not to choke on the water in the last station. I almost passed the water station, but my calves were hinting at cramping up so I thought get a sip of water...so I should have skipped it. Oh well...live and learn.


I am glad that I did the series. It was fun and nice to see the same people at the races each time. I will do them again next year...maybe not all of them, but I will do some if not most. It was a great motivator to win hardware...even though if I had raced in my age group, I would not have gotten awards as much...It is still nice to get an award.