The swim was wetsuit legal, but I opted not to wear one as the last open water swim practice I used my wetsuit in was miserable. The suit is probably too big and it throws off my form. I might look into a sleeveless one...or just avoid cold water races. Anyway, We all waded in and got started, but the water was pretty choppy and I kept accidentally feeling on people (sorry, I'm not usually that forward!) all the way out to the first buoy. I don't know where everyone went after we turned, but suddenly the water around me was clear of obstacles. Got into a pretty decent grove until we reconnected with the Olympic swimmers which caused a little congestion as we made our way back to shore. You don't have to get out of the water, but the "loop" marker is in water shallow enough that you can just stand up and walk around the buoy. On to the second lap and I'm doing good until I catch up to a guy and I can't seem to get around him. I settle for just trying not to make contact with him and we finish the second loop at the same time.

I'm actually pretty happy with the swim. The only down side is that the run back to transition was quite a distance and included a set of stairs so my swim time is probably 90 to 120 seconds long. My watch showed it took me about 44 minutes.

Pretty smooth transition.

Do a better job cleaning off the feet.

Ha, this course is FLAT. A little windy in spots, a little coarse surface wise in some places, but mostly just booking it the whole time. I did not particularly enjoy the super tight u-turns at each end of the out and back, but otherwise, no complaints. Minimal traffic. And the loops were 14 miles apiece which broke the course up nicely.

Bring more Pop Tarts. I had a gu right at the start, but it got on my fingers and I kept having to lick it off because it was making my shifter sticky (gross and tmi). But, the Pop Tart was fantastic. I broke one up into small pieces and as soon as I ate it I felt my energy level rise. Plus that is like 220 calories for one "pastry". Oh, and at the end of the third loop I nearly wrecked trying to avoid a lady going the other direction. I missed her, but went off course and unclipped just in time to avoid a face full of weeds and gravel.

Apparently the timer wasn't working for this portion, but I'm estimating it took probably three-ish minutes and it was added on to my run time...so Garmin - Race time.

The run had more elevation than the bike, but it wasn't overly brutal. My first five miles were under 9, probably too fast, but I figured I'd roll with it until the wheels fell off. Which was really only on the second lap when I hit the hills. Of which there were two. I walked them both the second time.

I brought Coke in my water belt. Which was a great idea (since local races never have soda, in my experience), except I should have let it go flat...the carbonation was making it spew out of the bottles. I probably wore a fair amount of it, but have the calories and caffeine plus the on course water, was just what I needed.

Pizza. SHOWER!!! Lots of water...wait around for awards.


Nearly crashing.


I will probably do this race again in the future...it makes me feel fast. I PR'd in every event and took first in my age group. Also, it's hard to beat being able to take a shower while waiting for awards. Pizza, chocolate chip cookies and Pringles is my idea of easy to manage food. As this was the first year for the 70.3 distance, I can't wait to see what year looks like.