I borrowed a wetsuit from Jeff (tri4funjeff) - THANK YOU JEFF! This was my first time to EVER swim in a wetsuit. Yea, yea I know you are never supposed to try anything new on race day but I was not exactly shooting for a great swim so I figured it couldn't hurt. Turns out the water was not really all that cold but the suit did help.

When we started I had a little panic moment with the somewhat cold water that took me back to the Stonebridge tri where I backstroked the majority of the swim. Once I made it to the first buoy I started really trying to swim and quit being a wuss. I had to really work to keep my HR down but I was able to swim a ways, stop and make sure I was still on course and then keep going. We were also swimming into a current the whole time we were following the shoreline.

I never really had a hard time after that, I was just slow. The wetsuit helped with the floating and resting I just wish I was faster. I realistically thought I would be about 27 minutes so I am really not bummed about my time. There was another stragler in my wave and I don't know whose fault it was but we kept swimming over each other. At one point I thought we might as well get a room because I think he tried to kiss me.

At the end when I got to the ramp I was a little dizzy and my left foot fell off the ramp and I cut the bottom of it on the oyster bed. Didn't notice it until after the race though. The wetsuit strippers were great - I just dropped down and my suit was off and I was standing up before I really knew what happened.

Kylie started in the wave 15 minutes behind me and my secondary goal was to be out of the water before she was and I made it! There was a good chance here that I would not make this goal.

Learn to swim. I am terrible. This was not my worst OWS but it was definitely not great either. I had fun though and I didn't wear myself out which was my goal.

SLOW. I was still a little dizzy so I sat down at the rack and dried my feet a little. Drank some water, put on my shoes and I was off. Should have been a lot faster.

Usually my transitions are on the faster side so I attribute this to the dizzieness.

Edited to add: with the wind, my out segment was 1:04 and back was 39 min. Love that tailwind!

Wow. Wind. I was expecting a crosswind but what we got was a STRONG headwind the whole way out. In the beginning I realized that there is nothing that I can do about it, I just need to stay in a high gear and spin and not burn up my legs. I was consistently in the 12's and 13's on the way out and got passed a lot but did not let it get to me.

Everyone was flatting. I stopped about mile 2 to try to help a guy on a MTN bike who had a flat but I didn't have anything to work on a schraeder valve - I was off again quick. Joe (freeswimmingfish) passed me about mile 3 and then at mile 7 he was on the side of the road with a flat. His inflator was not working and I stopped and gave him a CO2 and my only inflator. I learned later that we both could have gotten a time penalty for that. Oops. Sidenote - I thought that the "no outside support" rule only applied to non-racers but apparently I was wrong. We didn't get a penalty but could have - sorry Joe. It didn't end up mattering because he still didn't get it to work and had to get a new wheel from the SAG support.

Kept on fighting the wind just plugging along. Saw lots more people with flats and since I had given Joe my inflator I said a few prayers that I would not get a flat myself. Later on I passed Jim (jkron) and he had a flat. I didn't realize it was him until I had passed him. He got it fixed and passed me again later on in the ride. Not too far from the turn around a guy had just passed me and was drinking a gatorade from the hand up and just threw it on the ground. Bottle BARELY missed my rear tire. I yelled something at him but with the wind I know he didn't hear me. That could have hurt! Kept watching the miles slowly tick by just waiting for the turn around.

Finally hit the turnaround and it was JOYOUS! Tailwind! By this point I was not real comfortable down in the aero bars and sat up a little with my hands on the bullhorns but kept tucked down some. Not far past the turnaround I saw Kylie headed the other way and she was not too far behind me. Hammered and really saw the speed jump. I only dropped below 20 mph once when I was riding with no hands eating some Jelly Bellys. I passed John (jcagg90) on the side of the road and yelled to see what was wrong. He said he needed a SAG wagon so I kept on trucking.

Was really enjoying the tailwind and pushing 23 most of the time. John (the bear) passed me and I yelled great job at him and he threw me a thumbs up. I really hammered once to see what I could do and hit about 28. Couldnt hold it for long though. The miles were really ticking by and when I got to the end I really didn't want to be finished. I was having a great time with the tailwind though I was really thankful that I was not doing the 1/2 IM and having to turn around into that headwind again!

Nutrition: not so good. I drank about a bottle and a half of water and a little bit of water with Nuun. I ate 1 package of Jelly Belly sport beans which I am now in love with but I know I needed more calories. I had a gu with me but never took it.

Train more in the wind. Train more period. I think I need to get refit on my bike because I should have been more comfortable staying aero the second half of the ride.

Got out of my shoes a little early but no big deal. This transition was ok but I would have liked to have been under 1 min. Everything went smooth I just kept feeling like I was forgetting something.

Just go knowing that I have done everything.

I had not looked at a course map and I was confused the whole time. The course was very well marked but we went out and back all over the stinkin place!

I started off feeling good. I hit the mile 1 marker at 7:59 and knew that couldnt be right. I asked the volunteer if she was sure it was in the right place and she said yes and then a runner coming the other way so "No its not! It's short" and I was very thankful to hear that. If I had just run an 8 min mile to start off I was going to blow up and be hurting shortly!

I really was confused most of the time but had a great time. With all of the out and backs it was fun getting to see a lot of the BT'ers. Saw Andrew (bigred) and Jim (jkron) in the beginning. I walked all of the aid stations and drank water. Had fun thanking all of the volunteers and encouraging the runners. I passed a guy and noticed that he was in my age group. I hadn't really paid much attention before that and my only thought was "sweet, I am not last!"

Got around mile 1.5 or so and passed the BT aid station. Got to see Steve, Ron, Angel, Derek and Laurie. It was great getting to see them.

At the mile 4 aid station I grabbed water and then thought I would give the coke a try. I have read so much about people loving it. It was fabulous! It was cold and just what I needed. I tried it at the rest of the aid stations but it was never cold again and was not as good. Bonnie (Mrs. Fish) passed me and I talked to her for a bit. She told me she saw Kylie and she was doing good. Somewhere around mile 5ish I saw Kylie and she was looking good! I was happy to see her again.

There was a clown at one point on the second half on the run and when I was coming back by him he was turned around with his back to me. When I got to him I reached down and honked his horn. That made me smile! He laughed at me and yelled something encouraging at me.

The end of the run was pretty uneventful. I was happy to be getting close to the finish. I had pushed and was pretty happy with my run. Only walked the aid stations and was not hurting but ready to be done. When I crossed the finish there was no one else around me and the anouncer said my name. That was cool. I was finished!

Train more and learn to run faster? I really had fun on the run but it seemed like it would never end!

Stood around and talked to all of the BT'ers. Swapped war stories and Kylie finished not long after me. Walked back to transition with David (davidb) and his wife and took the wetsuit back to Jeff at the TNT tent. Grabbed some food and walked around and found other BT'ers. Saw Marcy and she looked great after her race! We had to head back because I had to be at church asap for our sunday night program. I really wish we could hung around with everyone.

I have to add: what a great community BT is! We had met a lot of BT'ers and got to meet a lot more this weekend. It really is great to be able to cheer on everyone when you are racing and to get the same in return. There is nothing like it out there!


Training. Have not been training long but I am happy with everthing. I don't think I hydrated enough because I never had to pee until after I was finished and I had a little headache which I think was from lack of hydration.


Keith did a great job putting this race together. Everything was very well organized, marked and on time. I am really looking forward to doing the 1/2 at Longhorn now. The race packets were great as well. The only complaint that I had was that there were no instructions in the race packet. Things like if there was a mandatory spot to put the # on the bike since some races require it or if it could go anywhere, times when transition closed and course maps. Would have been nice but not a necessity. Great very very well run race! Will be back for sure!