wish I knew how to flip turn. The girl in my lane was swimming at exactly the same speed as me, but every time we got to the wall, she'd jump ahead by 20 feet or so. Annoying. Just like last time, started a little too fast, then settled down, and found a good pace that left me with enough left at the end to push out an extra 1/2 lap just before the whistle.
Good swim for me.

Learn how to do a flip turn, but otherwise, I think this is about as fast as I'm capable of going.
The guy with the top score swam at a 1:10/100 pace. Holy sh1t!

How could you f-up a transition where you had 15 minutes between events? Good question. Yet somehow, I forgot to bring a towel, and forgot to put my HRM on.
I think I rushed out of the pool and rushed upstairs to the bikes, and then, seeing that I had more time than I thought, I took way too much time getting the bike set up.

Be more organized.

Got on the bike, clipped in, cranked up my ipod, and spun the cranks like a gerbil on crystal meth.

Obviously, the distance isn't real--it's what the cateye that was mounted on the spinbike said. I was pushing hard to get to 20miles, b/c that meant a 40mph average, which was a very fast cadence. Seemed to be one of the fastest in the room. Having bike shoes this time seemed to help.
What also helped was that I preprogrammed my ipod with a mix of really uptempo stuff (Oakenfold, Dirty Vegas, Fatboy Slim) for the bike. Definitely kept me cranking. Other selections included Kid Rock, Third Eye Blind, Black Eyed Peas.


Nothing. I don't think I could have gone much faster. Bike was, as I suspected, my best event. I even beat the guy who won the whole thing.

Had a drink, changed my shirt, put on my HRM, ran downstairs, got assigned to a treadmill, got on.

Hmm... cold liquids taste better than warm liquids. Something to keep in mind in the future.

My goal was to beat my last race distance (2.35) while running at 3.0 (as opposed to 2.0 in the last race), so I'm pretty happy with how I did. I had to slow down to a jog a couple of times, and it was really hot in the room. My accellerade was lukewarm at this point. The heat really started to affect me. Again, the ipod mix was a huge morale-booster (I seem to run better when I'm a little agro, so rap seems to help. Tupac, Ice Cube, NWA, Public Enemy, and of course, (this one's for you, Courtney) Mama Said Knock You Out).

I wish I could have kept up the pace I set, but realistically, I don't think I could have gone much faster than I did. And I beat my goal distance with a 50% higher incline than last time, so no complaints at all.

Thanked the RD and the vols, then had to bust outta there, hustle 11 blocks south, pick up my MTB, and shlep it home on the subway. Stopped for a second to have some frozen yogurt on the way.


I'm pretty happy with how I did. I wonder how I would have done if the race had been first thing in the morning, instead of after nearly a full day of chasing a 2-yr old around.


I'm pretty happy with the end results. I don't think I could have done much better than I did in any of the events. Top 5 is a nice place to be!


I think the race was fine for what it was. Not to be a swag whore, but I think, for $50, which isn't a lot less than you pay for some real races, a t-shirt and a water bottle is a little cheap. A couple of other racers said that, given that it was "The Championships" that they could have made a bigger deal out of it. There really was nothing to distinguish it from any of the other races that led up to it, other than that it says "Championship" on my shirt.
But overall, it was a fun event. I'm not 100% sure I'd do it again, but I'd consider it.