I started too far on the outside. I think I'm a pretty decent swimmer (at least FOMOP) so I should have started in a more aggressive position and pushed it to get out ahead. Lesson learned... it seemed to take forever to get closer in to the bouys. And I did not enjoy the first half of this swim. I felt a little constricted in the wetsuit. Towards the end of the stretch out, I pulled inside to the bouys and swam right along them from the turnaround back to the shore.

I didn't push this as much as I should have. If I'd only started a little more inside, I think I could have broken 2:00/100. Maybe next time.

For the first time, I remembered to pull off my cap/goggles as I was running out of the water. Also got my wetsuit top off easily. I felt great running into transition and saw one of my coworkers there cheering me on (her husband was racing as well). At my bike, I sat down and got my wetsuit off in record time (I was worried about that), quickly dusted the sand off my feet, and then remebered that I needed to put some vaseline on my toes... They've been hurting the past few days from friction, so I decided to slather them before the bike and run, but as I've never done that before, I forgot to get the tube out and ready to go. It was still wrapped up in a plastic bag inside my transition bag. :( I wasted a fair amount of time searching for that, but once I had it, I was up and out pretty quickly.

Put the vaseline tube right next to my socks/shoes. But even though it added maybe 30 seconds, I'm glad I used it!

I had really high hopes for this bike... I have been riding out at Heritage Park a lot for the last few weeks, so I'm familiar with the course, and my goal was to break 18 mph ave for the bike.

I was feeling really good from the get-go. Passed lots of people on the first lap (especially up the first set of hills- that felt great!). I was really annoyed, though, because it got really congested there. People were not staying to the right, and lots of us were forced to pass on the other side of the double-yellow lines. Luckily, this is not a USAT race, and the street was closed, so it wasn't dangerous and we wouldn't get DQ'ed but it was the principle! So annoying!

So everything was going really well- I only got passed by a couple ladies and the speed demon guys on their tri bikes with the disc wheels, so I was feeling pretty darn good about myself. Then, in the second half... ugh... starting up the big hill again, I downshifted into the little gear to start spinning, and when I tried to shift in the rear ring, it wouldn't work. :( CRAP! This happened a couple weeks ago, so I knew exactly what was happening. The screw holding my bar-end shifters was coming out... AGAIN! :( I tried to tighten it while I was riding, to no avail. Then I tried just holding it in, but that was not use... to my dismay, I watched the screw vibrate off and fall away. Double-CRAP! I am not a cursing lady, but I did then! So I'm halfway through the bike, and my shifter's broken. :(

By now I'm paranoid about popping my chain off... I tried to shift only a couple more times, but each time, the chain would just pop around, and end up in the little rings in the back & front. I could have shifted to the big ring up front, but then I would have been in my highest gear the whole time, and I don't think I could have kept that up. So I just resigned myself to staying in my current gear, and finished as best I could.
Despite the shifting issues, I felt like I was doing really well, and keeping my speed up. I thought I still might have had a chance of meeting my goal of 18 mph. I didn't wear a watch, so I had to wait for them to post the results online. But when I checked the website, it had my average as 16.8 mph. So disappointing! That's slower than my training rides lately. :(

But then I entered my time here on BT and hit the calculate button - imagine my surprise when 19.3 mph popped up! It was only then that I realized that the 16.8 mph online is based on a distance of 10 miles, but the race bike was actually 11.5 miles. So I'm stoked! This is my fastest ride EVER! :) :) :)


uh, not be riding a single-speed for half the course? ;)

Seriously, next time I am going to go over my bike with a fine-tooth comb and tighten that crap out of everything. I'll chalk this one up to another learning experience.

Despite the mechanical problems, I am really happy with my bike split.

T2 was ok. I could have been much faster, but I was messing around with my shoelaces for waaaay too long. I thought about putting Yankz on last night - I've had a pair for months, but never got around to putting them on my shoes. But I decided against it... you know, nothing new on race day. I've never used them before and probably would have found a way to mess them up. :)
I changed socks in T2 and added more vaseline to my toes. Glad I did that. Put on my race # belt and headed out.

Just have Yankz on my shoes.

This was actually my first brick of the year. oops. I'd forgotten what it felt like to get off the bike and run! My lower shins really hurt for the first couple of miles, and I felt incredibly slow. I would have put my pace somewhere around 10:00 based on RPE, but looking at my actual time, it must have been due to the effort on the bike. Other than my lower legs hurting, I was feeling really good and strong out there.

I finally saw some other BTers (VeganMan, IKENTRI, and Petetring) for the first time on the run course. Ryan (VeganMan) blew past me in mile 3. He was really smokin'! I thought, "When he catches up to me, I'll speed it up and try to stay with him." Yeah, right, I was able to do that for about 5 seconds from when he passed me before he was gone! haha :) The rest of the run was pretty uneventful. I kept a steady pace until some random lady yelled, "Finish strong, girl!" on the home stretch, so I kicked it in and sprinted the last .1 mile.

Overall, I'm happy with my run time. I probably could have run faster if my shins didn't hurt so bad, but the pain wouldn't have been worth it.

Just walking around and talking to people. We got a finisher's medal for this race, so that was cool. I hadn't received one at a tri before.
I found Dave and Grace, and he told me that she was very bad & barked the whole time, but she looked so innocent when I finished. I told him that she was just cheering for her momma! :)


Mechanical issues on the bike... people clogging the road on the bike... my achin' shins. That's about it. For my first race of the year, I can't complain. I did this race so much faster that the ones last year, and am psyched about that. I can't wait to do the course at my very fist tri again in August, and see the difference a year makes.


This was a fun race, and a great way to kick off the season. The weather was great, there were tons of volunteers, and I felt sufficiently trained. This race has an easygoing atmosphere, too. Some of the KC Multisport people did the race on "old school" chopper-style bikes & wearing only their tighty whities. One guy was dressed like Elvis too. And their transistions involved Krispy Kremes. I think this is a Heritage Park tri tradition. Maybe I should join them next year! This was a fun, fun race.