After we got into the water, we had to get back out to cross the timing mat. Crossed the timing mat and got back in.

It was cold. The wetsuit made it bearable though.

So we start with a deep water start, and I seat myself to the front and center. As does every other lady. Ugh. At one point I got a little panicked because I felt like some of them were pushing me down as they were threading water. I tried to get out of the crowd, but there was no where to go. Oh well.

Then we started. Talk about a miserable mass start. I didn't put my face in the water for the first 100 yards for fear of getting kicked. I was basically swimming on top of a bunch of people.

Finally the pack cleared out some. Great. I made it to the first bouyou (can't spell that word!) and took a left. I can't see where I need to go, so I stop and site. I did this a few times during the swim.

Then I am swimming, and I can't swim a straight line to save my life. I kept running into some girl. Although at the time, I thought she was the one who couldn't swim straight. I was wrong.

Mind you, this whole time, I'm fighting off a panick attack (which I have NEVER HAD IN THE WATER!) because my chest feels constricted and I can't breathe normally. I talk myself through the entire swim to try to calm down.

About 300 yards into I finally got into a groove. Stroke-breathe-stroke.

Then it was over. This was honestly my worst open water swim ever.

With all of that said... I KILLED IT on the SWIM! I beat the girl who won my AG, by 2 minutes and 20 seconds. Everyone else had a swim time of 14 minutes or higher.

So, even though I can in first, I am rating my swim below average, because it was no where near what I can do.

Just think what I can do when I feel good on a swim. HA!



Ah, what could be done? When I get back to swimming in warm water without a silly wetsuit, I'll be killing it again.

NOTE: The rented wetsuit fit really nice and I liked it. I might end up keep the Blue Seventy afterall. But I have to see how the Zoot Zenith fits!

As soon as I left the water, I dropped to the ground (out of the way) and took that wetsuit off. Just as my coach instructed (see I do listen!).

I then ran the REALLY LONG WAY to my bike. Once at my bike my transition was laid out perfectly. I did a wonderful job there. Although, I did put on a long sleeved shirt, which took some time. Oh well, warm is good.

At my transition area, the girl who racked next to me was on the other side of the fence crying with her parents. Apparently she DNF'ed on the swim. Without a wetsuit it was just too cold I think. I made sure to let her know that it was a hard swim.




Nothing.

Hopped on my bike and away I went!

I was riding the Tarmac today as the Cervelo was in the shop. I'm glad I did considering there were some hills.

I can't really say much about the bike. It was pretty uneventful. I passed some of the duathlon people, got passed by the fast guys on the tri bikes. My breathing was labored at times due to the hills and I worked to bring it down by riding my own ride and not getting too caught up in passing people.

I am going to rate this ride average though, as I felt like I could have done a little better. I felt a somewhat tired on the bike.

Nothing.

Although, it would have been nice to FEEL MY FEET. They were completely numb from the cold water swim. I didn't feel my toes again into 1 mile into the run.

This was pretty smooth. In and out I went.

Nothing.

When I took off on the run, my goal was to not get a side cramp and to keep my own pace.

That was hard to do. Honestly, I felt like I was moving so slow. EVERYONE was passing me. Seriously. In fact, on the whole run I only passed ONE person, and that's because she started walking.

Still so, I see that I was running a pretty fast pace. Which is probably why I got a side cramp about 1.5 miles into it. Good for me that I am use to running with a side cramp! I massaged it, breathed deep and only stopped to walk for a short distance up the huge hill.

I saw Jonny (my boyfriend) on the run, he was going out and I was going in. I was shocked that he was behind me and I was determined to keep it that way. So I kept plugging away and made it to the finish line before he did.

As I ran for the finish line, DocShock was so cool to cheer for me (as he did other BTers). I made sure to smile and wave back and then to pump the crowd up by cheering too. It was fun.

I crossed the finish line and I felt pretty good.

I am ranking this as a good run, because I ran so fast!




I probably need to get a watch so I can pace myself on the run. If I had a watch on, I would have known I was not going an 11 minute mile.

Walked around and chatted with BTers. Always a good time.

We also got to watch some of the kiddos compete in their duathlon. It was so cute! Some of those kids were hardcore though- racing shirtless in tri shorts and riding road bikes.


RUNNING!

Let's face it, if I could RUN... I would probably place in my age group. Or at least get darn close to placing.

It's so sad, 1st out of the water... and 12th on the run. Ugh.



Overall a great, well organized race. I would do it again. Tri Play did a wonderful job of putting this together.

I would also like to thank all of the volunteers! You guys make the race happen.

My only suggestion for next year would be to have the awards AT the race site, versus in the hotel. That was confusing and Ashley had to go get her hardware after it was done.