I treated this as a flat-out sprint, which sounded good at the time, but I came to regret later on. It was great for the first portion of the run, but once we had to move up the beach to the transition area, the sand got softer and more draining to run in. I basically exhausted myself before the bike.

Not have the swim cancelled! And maybe not go out quite so fast.

I still haven't had a real T1 experience, which is annoying. I think I did pretty well considering the circumstances. I took the time to get a drink of Gatorade, which I was very pleased about later on.

Dunno. When I have a real T1, I'll let you know.

This was absolutely terrible. As I said, I didn't start the segment too well, so it took me until the 2.5 mile downhill to really gain any confidence. That was fun - I got up past 30 mph. The big hill was a killer. I actually had to get off and walk my bike three times. It was curvy, so you couldn't see how far you had to go, which was a real blow to my confidence. Every time I figured it must be over, it kept going. The end was much better, especially since I had the cleanup crew following me and picking up signs as I passed them. I tried to save face once I had people watching me.

I don't know what I could have done during the race. I know that I don't bike as much as I should, and I definitely don't do hills like that. So I need to train them if I enter a race like this again. While I hate to blame equipment, I also think I need a new bike. Mine's only a year old, but it's a hybrid, not a real road bike. I kept finding myself wanting to sit forward more, to use my quads more effectively - especially on hills, where most of the time I ended up standing to get more power. I also want pedals I can clip into in order to increase my efficiency. They would have come in handy today.

I ended up not even racking my bike. I was the last finisher, I was tired, and I couldn't get it on, so I just used the kickstand.

Not much. It was ok, considering the condition I was in.

My run was pretty good. I had an audience as I left T2, which is really what kept me going. Once I got out there, it was just putting one foot in front of the other. I can plod along like that forever if I need to. I stopped to walk at both water stations as usual (I need water IN me, not ON me) and I also stopped at the turnaround to move my chip, which was cutting into my ankle. I managed to sprint the last 50 yards to the finish, which was good since I had a large audience. They actually interrupted the awards ceremony to watch my finish (I thought it was a tad rude of them to start before I got there - I've never seen another race do that).

Not much. It was pretty good, considering the shape my legs were in at that point. I was pleased with it.

Warm down? I was lucky to be standing! I watched the remainder of the awards ceremony and had some food. Krispy Kreme doughnuts! (The race t-shirt says "I did it for the doughnuts.")


The fact that I was unprepared for the race format. They had actually changed the bike course from the original course. It was supposed to be a few miles shorter and, from what I heard, not nearly so grueling. I never train hills and I wasn't expecting such an immense challenge. The other big factor was their cancelling the swim. I have never run before biking before. A swim, even if I were taking it out hard, would really serve as a warm-up for my whole body and get me ready for the bike. Instead, I started off out of breath and tired.


The race volunteers were very helpful and friendly, however I wasn't thrilled with the way it was run. First off, the distances of the races in this series have changed at least twice since I signed up. The distances are a huge factor in the races I sign up for. I don't think I would have signed up for a 16 mile bike because I know I only train 12. Secondly, while there was thunder in the distance, I don't think they needed to cancel the swim entirely - especially since they told us that if it thundered while we were already in the lake, they'd let us keep swimming. And the more I think about it, the more angry I am about the awards ceremony. That's really rude, to begin before everyone has finished! I was not THAT far behind the next-to-last finisher. And the race director had been with me and knew I was running it, not strolling through the woods. I have never been to a race where they didn't wait until everyone was finished to present the awards. If they were running behind, it was because of the thunder delays, not because of me. I don't think I would do this race again.