I wanted to defend my title as first woman out of the water, but at the swim start another woman shot ahead and I knew it wasn't worth trying to catch her. I ended up taking out the first 75 or so pretty hard, then dropping down into an easier pace. I swam right next to someone else (turned out to be a 17-year-old in a team Speedo) for most of the swim - had a hard time getting ahead of her, and when I finally did, she had a better line to the buoy, and the next time I got shunted aside by a man from the previous wave into some of the branches along the shore. I tried to shove at him to get him (and me) out of that mess and into deeper water, but it didn't work well, so I had to slow a bit to avoid further entanglement and ended up behind her. Third lady out of the water.

I would have liked to equal last year's time, but I think what I did worked well - also, I was in my tri suit and sports bra instead of a regular Speedo, so the drag alone could account for those 30 seconds. Next time I'd be sure to stay wide of those branches by the shore, though, even though I want to keep a similar line.

This was a pretty fast T1, considering the problems that slowed me down. I went to the transition clinic Hightstown held on Friday and picked up a few pointers, as well as reminders of what a neat and efficient transition area should look like. This helped me quite a bit during the race. I still had trouble getting my socks on (despite stretching them out the night before), because bending over when a bit dizzy from the swim was tricky. Then the back of my left bike shoe was crushed under my heel and I spent several seconds trying to get it out and straightened. I felt like those things were taking forever, but it couldn't have been too bad because I got out of there

I think I did everything well (I was second lady out of T1, so I gained some time there). I couldn't really help the problem with my shoe. I could avoid those small orange socks, because they are harder to get on than my normal ones. One thing I did really well, though, was choose to bring the small Steelman hand towel instead of a normal towel. That was all I really needed to wipe my face and feet and it kept me from getting things tangled up in the big one I usually have.

The bike felt pretty good. Took me a few minutes to get going, as usual, but I felt really comfortable on the course. I was able to keep a consistent cadence and to get up and down small rolling hills easily and smoothly (including passing multiple people on descents - even small ones - am I a badass descender?). I managed to drink a bottle plus a little before finishing. The only hiccup was that they put the mount line all the way out into the street, so we had to run quite a bit with our bikes after crossing the timing pad. I tried to start my watch a little after crossing, but messed up and put it on some other setting. I then had to wait until I had mounted the bike and started up the road before I could fix it, so I was never completely sure how long that had taken, so it was hard to gauge my pace on the course. If I had a real bike computer, this wouldn't be a problem.

This was perfect for where I am right now.

This was a great T2. Now that I have to change shoes, I thought I could never hope equal last year's :32. Maybe I can't, but this was a damn good try. I knew exactly where my rack was, I racked the bike smoothly (no crushing my finger with it like at Steelman), I switched shoes really smoothly, and I grabbed my race belt and watch to put on while running. I think that, in particular, that tip helped my transition the most. Fumbling with my watch can take a long time, but when I didn't feel like I had to get it done quickly, it helped everything go more smoothly.

Nothing at all.

This was a pretty good run for me right now. It took a good half mile to get my legs under me, but I kept plugging along and didn't let myself to walk, though I let myself slow down and relax my breathing cadence. I felt pretty bad until the first mile marker, when the knowledge that I was under a 10:00 pace as well as the slight downhill that started both helped improve my morale. I did a great job pushing through the rest of the run, not walking at all. What also helped was the knowledge that I was probably sitting third in my age group - I didn't want to lose that. I tried to accelerate slowly from about half a mile out, and ended in a sprint (a little unwilling, but I heard the crowd cheering another person coming on strong behind me).

In the moment, nothing. It was great. In the long term, though, I really need to work on improving my run pace. I'd like to be faster than this.

Walked around quite a bit, hung out in the Central Jersey Tri Club tent (I joined yesterday), went to PJ's Pancake House on the way home ;)


Training. I have not been training for speed in any discipline. What I did was very much in line with how I've done in my workouts. If I worked on more speed in the swim and run, particularly, I'd have that at my disposal.


Love the Hightstown Tri. It's a well-run small, local race. Since I know a lot of the people who race there from OWS practice, it has a really homey feel.