I was first in my lane, and I went out easy, not wanting to spike my HR and hoping that someone would pass quickly so I could draft. I led for the first couple hundred meters, then my friend Eva passed me and I got to draft until I passed her again on the second to last lap. The swim felt very relaxed, almost too relaxed while drafting. But I figured that, since my legs were a bit tired from the long ride the day before, it was a better strategy to take it easy and sit on her feet than to do all the work myself. Exiting the swim, I had lots of energy and felt great. I ended up swimming 3 seconds slower than my estimate, and I was happy with that time.

Nothing -- I took it nice and easy, and I think that was the right thing to do today.

I normally have pretty slow transition times because I tend to focus on keeping my HR down rather than saving a few seconds. That being said, I thought the transition set up sucked this year. The transition area was indoors on an extremely slippery concrete floor. You were not allowed to run in transition, nor could you have if you wanted to. The floor just kept getting more and more slippery throughout the morning as more athletes dripped more water from the pool all over the floor. Though I tried to walk gingerly in cycling shoes to the bike mount, I nearly ate it on my way there.

This race is famous for a transition volunteer we lovingly call "the nazi." The nazi is a grouchy, wrinkly old woman who shows up every year to hassle the hell out of everyone in transition in the interest of safety. I knew that my helmet strap was a little looser than she would allow, so I made sure to just perch the helmet atop my poofy hair to make the strap appear tighter so it would garner her approval. Then, once on the course, I pushed it down to its proper position. For those of my fellow racers who got blasted by the nazi, I highly recommend the perch and push for next year.

Nothing-- considering the circumstances, caution trumped speed.

As I started the first climb right out of transition, I was already feeling the tiredness in my legs from the long ride yesterday. But I also knew that it would take some time to warm up properly, so I tried to push it a bit on the first two loops. I was still a little conservative on the hills, but went for it on the flats. I felt like I slowed down a little on the last loop, but part of that was easing back and getting ready to run.

I ate two gels and drank my full aero bottle of water. It was my first time racing with PowerGels instead of ClifShots, and though the vanilla one was fine, I really had to choke down the double espresso one. Blech. I have to find a better tasting caffeinated PowerGel. I was happy with the amount of nutrition and water I was able to take in because I have struggled with this in the past. I think the magic formula for me is to stick to water for hydration.

I thought I wouldn't like the loop course, but it was actually really fun because I got to see so many people I knew on the bike. It was especially nice when James blew by me and said hello on one of the later laps. Also, all of the roads on this course are also on the Half Iron course, which I have been riding religiously, so it was great to know the course so well. My only real beef with the course was that it required that, at the end of each loop, you pull into a parking lot, go over 4 speed bumps (!!) and make a hairpin turn to start the next loop. It really caused me to lose my momentum and the speed bumps were quite annoying. Overall, though, I had fun on the bike.

I could have dug a little deeper on the last two loops and pushed a bit more.

Another slow, slippery transition. I hadn't bothered to put speed laces in my running shoes because I don't intend to do that for long races (Japanese Jesus, my chiro, says I need the stability of real laces), but it would have saved me a few seconds.

Speed laces!

This is where I really started to feel yesterday's ride. Getting off the bike, there is that normal "lead legs" feeling, but I was really surprised at how quickly it went away. I remember it being much more of an issue in races last season, but perhaps that's one of the perks of Ironman training?

I took it really easy on the first loop, wanting to feel out the course and gauge my energy level. I felt really on the second loop, and my friend Bob who was spectating commented that I looked very springy and had lots of energy. I told him I was saving it for the last loop, and I'm so glad I did, because my legs really started to burn the third time around.

Once again, I was happy with my hydration during this race. Either I'm starting to get the hang of it, or it's just easier for such short races, or both! I took little sips of water at the aid station at the beginning of each loop and dumped the rest of the cold water on myself. That felt great!

As I was climbing the big hill into the transition/finish area for the last time, a linbacker of a man insisted on running beside me and talking my ear off about his first half iron last weekend. I tried to be nice, but I just wanted to climb the last agonizing hill in peace! I slowed a little to let him go ahead as we came into the finish line, wanting to finish on my own. I finished feeling happy, collected my medal, and chatted with friends at the finish line while waiting for James to finish.

I could have really run faster on the downhill sections of the run instead of holding back and resting there.

Walked around with James and chatted with our buddies, then ate some bagel and banana and headed off for a quick shower. We stuck around for the awards ceremony, at which time I realized how sunburned I was. I definitely need to remember sunscreen for future races!


I have been doing mostly long, slow training to prep for Ironman, and I definitely noticed a difference this year in that it seemed harder to will myself into that high HR, high pain, threshold raing zone. I mean, I'm not great at that to begin with because I figure this is my hobby and it really shouldn't be torturous, but even so, it was noticably harder to get there this time. That being said, I think I performed better this year than last year even without any speedwork, so I think all the base training is serving me well.


Overall, a good first race of the year and a great way to start the season!