I haven't looked at my pace yet, but this felt like the best swim of my life. My navigation was dead on, I swam hard but not too hard, and even managed to draft a little. Coming around the first bouy the sun is in your eyes so I couldn't see the second buoy, but I did fine following the pack.

Nothing really. In hindsight, I could have pushed harder maybe.

Excelllent t2 for me. Found my bike on the first try, wetsuit slid right off, helmet, socks and sunglasses, downed an endurolyte and off I went. First time I left my shoes clipped to the bike and got into them while riding and it went without a hitch.

MMM, maybe not talked to the girl racked next to me. But she'd lost her sunglassess, they'd gotten knocked around. All I did was suggest she wear her tinted goggles on the bike, that it might be bettter than nothing.

UUUUG, I thought my avg was over 20 and it's not....still, I rode hard. Probably harder than I should have. Played a lot of "leapfrog" instead of riding my own race...but I had a blast. Saw Whiz and couldn't resist yelling "GO WIENERS, GO WEINERS!!!". Then another woman caught me and told me she was using me for her rabbit...which was ok, cuz there was this guy with hugormous hamstrings that I was using for mine. She didn't draft so it was all good, and we even chatted just a little, which is the first time I've ever really talked to anyone on a race course. In the end she passed me and finished a little ahead of me.

Leave my ego at home....a couple of times I was passed by women who looked like they were in my wave and I just HAD to catch 'em :) Which for the most part I succeeded at....but I paid a little on the run.

My socks bunched up in my shoes, I think because my Yanks are in a little too tight and/or my socks were too loose.

Looser yanks. Better fitting socks.

THis run is fun because the out and back nature of each segment means you pass your friends, sometimes more than once. The bad part is that I feel the need to cheeer on everyone I see :) I probably sounded like a demented cheerleader, as I knew BT people, plus people from 2 other clubs. So I was constantly yelling something different at someone!

Even for all the yelling, my legs were really really tired. I felt like I left it all on the bike course. But I managed to push myself. Before the race Mark and I were talking and he said every time he gets into a comfortable stride he tries to go just a little faster...I stole his idea and it worked very well!

My legs were pretty dead from the ride. I had plenty of wind but my legs just wouldn't go any faster. At one point I got feeling very discouraged and nearly walked, but I saw my friend Kim up ahead and thought "oh, I'll try to catch her". Which I did catch and pass her, which gave me a chance to both give and get a little much needed encouragement. (It was her first OLY.)

Otherwise, I managed to push pretty hard for the whole run. Walked 2 aid stations to have a gel....once at close to 3 miles, then once right att he end. I was having minor GI issues...cramps, so I didn't want to overdo it. I usually don't have gel on the last mile but my energy was really lagging. But after that second gel everything - ahem - cleared out and I felt better. My cap kept blowing off my head and I ended up carrying it a lot.

Gels sooner.

Mark was waiting for me at the finish line, so together we cheered in Whiz, StartingtoTri, and a bunch of local people.


Leg fatigue. Also, I didn't taper well for this race because I didn't want to interrupt my marathon training too much.

Sciatica flared on the run, making my left foot almost completely numb and running felt a little awkward, although focusing on keepign my stride longer and more natural helped a ton. Also carrying my cap didn't help much. GI issues were actually to minor to be a hindrance (for a change :) )




As always, the town of Pleasant Prairie did a fantastic job. They left out the water bottle hand-up on the bike course this year...rumor has it the residents of the town got tired of bottle litter. But they did have and aid station with cups if you needed it...for this distance I think most people can carry thier own. Goodies are AWESOME! a nice technical type running shirt, a tri bag (can you believe that!) and a running hat.
This will remain an annual rece for Mark and I.

And the frosting that made the cake was having so many friends from BT to share the experience with. The weiners will be back!