We had no warmup opportunity which is what I really wanted/needed before the swim, so I knew the beginning was going to be tough. The swim start was hard!!! I had to jump in the water and tread. I was in the second wave and we only had 1 minute from the time the elite athletes started until we did. I jumped in and by the time I resurfaced, they said "go!". I had to empty my goggles for they had some water from plunging in. I was nowhere near the start line when they said go. I didn't put my head under water for the first 200 because I couldn't catch my breath. Did a bit of backstroke to try and calm down and that didn't work, so I just pushed myself to keep going. After the first 200 we rounded the first buoy I settled down and got into a rhythm, breathing every 3 strokes and sighting every 6. Ended up with a decent time considering my first 200 was probably over 6 minutes. But I was glad to see the end!!!

The big thing that bothered me is that the buoys were bright orange...as were the swim caps of my wave!!! So it was tough to do a quick sight...you had to actually look up and make sure you were looking at the buoy and not at someone's head!!!

Get a warmup in. Many things were out of my hands on this one!!!

The T1 included a long run from the swim exit. I passed about 5 women on that run!!! Ha, take that for passing me on the swim!!! Most of that small run was on concrete, but the last part was through mud (great, thanks!). So I go into the transition area and immediately stepped on my towel. I had put baby powder in my socks and they flew right on. As I was getting the rest of my gear on, my family/friends were right next to me making jokes and cheering me on. There is a picture of me just cracking up I was laughing so hard!! My shirt went on in a hurry and my helmet was fine. I ran with my bike to the exit, mounted quickly and was off!

I was number 2/21 in my age group and 31/383 overall as far as T1 times...I am proud of that!!!

Nothing, it went great!!

The bike course was really hard. They said we lost about 40% of our breaking capacity because the roads were still wet from the early morning rain. I was pretty scared!!! The course started uphill, but that was fine. There were parts where I got up to 28 mph!!! Then I realized how fast that was and slowed down a bit. Being timid in the bike is probably what cost me minutes. The hills were not too bad except the very last one. Anyone w/o a road bike had to get off and walk it. I was averaging a steaming 4 mph up that hill!!! Of course it was in the last 1/2 mile of the course, so that made it hard to get in a high enough gear to get the legs ready for the run. There were parts of the course that were a bit too narrow for me to feel comfortable, so I was timid on those as well.

Worst of all, my seat was killing me!!! I am pretty boney and I am actually bruised from the bike!! I had to adjust so many times that I couldn't relax into a cadence very well.

Buy a nice, squishy gel seat anatomically designed for a woman!!! I just need more practice on a bike. I am very happy with my average speed since there were rolling hills and I had some discomfort.

T2 was much like T1...people cheering and making me laugh!! I was fast and ready for the run. Got off the bike quickly, ran it to the rack, shoved it on, ripped off the helmet, and off I went!! I was 2/21 in my age group, 20/383 overall for T2 times. Alright me!!! :-)

Not a darn thing.

I was very disappointed in the run. This is supposed to be my strongest event!!! I started off having extreme pain in the tendons and ligaments in my ankles. They were stressed the entire time. I was on the verge of tears because I knew I could have had this one, even despite the course being a tough one. But it was out of my hands, so I decided to do what I could. I fought off walking by asking my cousin's mom, Terri, for strength to keep on going. I almost cried as I did so, because I knew I was running in memory of her and just wanted to finish strong. I could her her in my mind saying "hey, I suffered through chemo and all that, so just suck it up and keep on movin'!!" So I did. I hurt the entire time, I wanted to cry so badly. But there were angels on the course in the form of the men, women, and children who came out of their houses, lined the run course, and cheered. One lady in particular stood out in my mind...she was hanging out of her kitchen window ringing a cow bell screaming "woo hoo!". How could I walk or cry when they were out there? I just smiled and kept on going. I rounded the last corner towards the finish line, and there they were: my friends, my family. Steph was first, her medal dangling from her neck, screaming with all her might to get me going. Then I saw the finish line, and could hear Brian and Desi screaming, then my friend Louise (her Irish accent was, of course, a stand out). As I crossed the finish line, my pal Ellen was there to take my timing chip and gave me a big hug and helped me gather my bearings. I was DONE!

Um...not have stupid ankles? I actually had an allergic reaction two nights before to something I ate, and my mom said that sometimes the histamine can cause weird things to happen to your muscles and tendons. My arches cramped right when the allergy happened, so I'm sure that it was related. So next time I won't eat a "Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki" sandwich at Subway!

Had my friends help me to the chairs. I cuddled with my doggie, hugged Stephanie a lot, cried with my cousin, and Brian was there to hold me. I couldn't walk much, so that was the extent of my cool-down. I found Michele (zagagirl) by chance and we gave each other big hugs. It was amazing.


Um...besides the obvious!?! I think it all went down hill after the swim. The bike was ok, but my lungs had a bit of water in them and my breathing was labored when it shouldn't have been. Next time it will be better, I know it!


This race was H-A-R-D. When Michellie Jones says that this will be one of the hardest courses we will ever run, you take that to heart!!!

Although I felt my performance was not great, I still think this was a great race for me. Not only did I achieve my goal of finish my triathlon and raising money for ovarian cancer research ($2220!!), I learned a lot during this race. Every race is a great race, if anything just for the pure fact that I am privileged enough to be able to race. I had so many people supporting me that I was on cloud nine.

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