I was pretty happy with this swim, especially since I did not wear a wetsuit. The water was really nice at 77.5 degrees F, and I was worried I'd overheat if I wore mine. I was really quite comfortable through this swim and passed a bunch of people.

Maybe swim a little harder. I always say that, but then hold back a bit because I don't want to use up too much energy too early. I seriously need to figure out how to keep my goggles from fogging so badly, though.

I'm really not sure why this transition took so long when I didn't even have to take a wetsuit off! I guess because the transition area was soooo huge. ??

Run faster in and out of transition. I'm always too worried about slipping.

During this ride, I was trying to see how long I could use the third chain ring because I knew the course was pretty flat. My cadence ended up being a little low because of this, and I ended up feeling it in my legs pretty badly by the end. I knew they would be more brick-like than normal for the run. I did actually pass a few people, which is always encouraging, including the woman I was using as my pace setter in the first part of the course.

Keep trying to figure out the right mix of gears and when to shift. I suppose this comes with time and experience. I have to concentrate on spinning at 95 rpm for the last few miles of the bike so quads are looser for the run

Well, since I somehow managed to forget to put my race number on my race number belt when setting up my T area, I had to do it during this transition. That and the large size of the T area made for a pretty long transition.

Uh, the number belt thing...

So given that it was approaching noon and getting hot by the time I started running, and that I was not spinning properly on the bike, this actually isn't a terrible run for me. (haha how sad! :) This is my third race, and I finally actually passed a few people on the run. (!)

Keep working on speed, of course, but otherwise, not much.

Warm down ended up being walking because it took me almost 15 minutes of walking around to find my fiance and sister!


The heat due to late start time, and my usual slow running


Obviously this race is very popular. I'm really glad I did this race since this is the one I was watching on TV last year when I said, "Hey, I could do that!", but I'm not sure I'll do it next year. The organization was great given the size of the race, no doubt, but with 2,500 racers, and the spectators, vendors, tv crews, etc, it's kind of chaotic. I also personally had a tough time getting to Minneapolis the day before to get my race packet (which was mandatory), and wasn't crazy about having to kill 2.5 hours waiting for my start time (although it was cool watching the pros). So, maybe I'm just a smaller race kind of girl. Who knows; maybe I'll change my mind--we'll see! Either way, it was a good experience!

(Note, the 191/380 ranking is for females completing the sprint course. In my age group I was 45/89. Solidly MOP, I guess.)