Got in the water, pushed off to test my goggles, side stroked back, and I swear not 2 seconds later...GO! Holy sh*t! That sudden start did NOT help the panic and freak out that was about to ensue. Let's just say that this was NOT the swim race I was hoping for. Yes, yes.....I finished it, and that is way more than I could have done back in June when I didn't even know how to swim, but I am not happy. I just could NOT turn the freak-out thoughts off in my head. I literally just wanted to stop. The only thing that kept me going was thinking about how I would let down my coach and family. I clung to the wall WAY too much, and it probably added, no joke, 2 min to my time. At one point I turned to start my length as a backstroke, and I heard my friend cheer me on, and I thought "I CANNOT do the backstroke! I am not here to do the backstroke!" So I turned around and crawled. I could not get my breath and I just couldn't snap out of it. I think the last 1/3 of the race was a little better, but I just was getting so pissed because I KNEW I could do better. I HAD done better in practice. Grrrr.... THEN...to add insult to injury...the pool is extremely hard to get out of. I tried and failed, then the like 17yr old chick lifeguard failed, then on the third attempt, I finally made it! That must have been entertaining to watch!! Oh, FYI....I was a bit slower than the time I put down...but I was not the last one out of the pool in my wave. Thank goodness!

Get a pre-race frontal lobotomy!

It had rained all over my stuff, so it was all wet. I dried off the best I could as I stood and tried to control my hyperventilation. I threw on a long-sleeved dry mesh shirt, as it was overcast and rainy at times, and wasn't really warm, so I thought I might be more comfortable in it with the bike wind pounding on me. (I was right.)

Try to hurry up a bit. I could have done it faster, but I was trying to catch my breath at the same time, and it was my first time, so I was wasn't as fast as I could have been. My son was also standing there asking me questions. I love my son...but that was a distraction I could have done without.

I felt really strong on the bike. Helped me recover from the crappy swim. Right out of the parking lot I passed 2 chicks that were slowly getting starting. On the entire course I think I passed about 12 people. 1 of them was even a very fit guy on a mountain bike. I think I made him mad, and he tried to keep up, but I left him in the dust. Granted, a few of the people I passed were not the fittest people out there, but the most of them were, so it felt really good to chug past them. Especially on the hills! (Thank you AZ Tri Club for the nasty underground tri practice out in the mountains!) My first lap was just over 12 min, and I got faster with each lap. Shifting was great, but I can't wait to get an aero bottle. I just HATE reaching down, and getting my bottle. Wasted time and energy!!! It was either on lap 2 or 3 that I noticed my front tire making a "womp, womp, womp" sound. I was pretty sure it usually did not make this noise, and I realized it was my stem, and the beginnings of a flat. I STILL do not know how to change a flat (I know...I know...save it!) So if I got a flat, I was toast. There was no assistance in today's race. So knowing this, I just didn't dwell on it, and just hammered on thinking if I forgot about it, it would go away. This strategy apparently worked, as I finished just fine, but later found my bike with a flat. THANK YOU THANK YOU Tri Gods, for sparing me this time!!!!

Cannot wait to get pedals and shoes! My toes were completely numb in my toe cages, and this totally affects your ability to run!!!

Quickly took off my helmet and threw on my hat. Grabbed my running water bottle and I was good to go.

Put glasses on FIRST before the helmet in T1 (like my coach said) so that I did not have to take them off, take the helmet off, then put them back on. Stupid!

Started off with the numb toes, and just tried to power through that. I spend a lot of my run time (after biking) trying to regulate my breathing. It's much faster and out of control after the bike than when I just run normally, and I normally run with music to drown out the sound! I hate to hear myself! Freaks me out!
So I start running, and I realize there is a 79 year old man in front of me!!!!! 79!!!! I sooo want to be him when I grow up!! Sad part was I was not catching him! So I thought, well, I just need to stay up with him. We both overtook a 24yrd old (Yea! Go older people!) Then FINALLY at the 1.1 mile mark, I overtook him. I think I passed 4 more chicks along the way. No one I passed came back to get me later, so that was good. Really didn't have a whole lot of kick at the end like I usually do, but hey...at that point...I just was happy I was still running.

Maybe should have taking off my shirt, but I did not overheat, so I was ok.

Walked a bit and ate some of the stuff they were handing out.


MY FREAKEN HEAD!!!!!!!!!! Grrrrrrrr..... I can be hard headed and stubborn like no one, but sometimes I can't apply that to myself in a helpful way! I am just so dissapointed in my swim! I also know that I need to be training harder. My running has suffered as of late, and I need to get back on track with a hard core training plan.


This was a great race. Very well organized. The only thing that sort of went wrong was not their fault. The swimming waves got behind due to people overestimating their swimming ability, being slotted in a fast wave, then taking way longer to finish. This holds up the next wave. Took forever at the end to have the drawing for prizes (of which I won nothing. Story of my life.) I liked this race...just wish they knew what SPRINT meant, and had like a 400yrd swim!!!! :-)