The water was beautiful -- crystal clear, warm, and calm. There were only 2 waves and I moved toward the front. However, I was totally swamped by the high performance guys who got a swimming start from the back of the pack. Went out much faster on 1st 100-200 and then settled down. Lots of bumping, kicking, etc. but happy with swim

Start in the middle of the pack with a swimming start

A little trouble getting shoes on, but probably not as bad as it seemed at the time. Trouble getting into peddles since bike start was uphill!

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Very tough day on the bike. I had strained a muscle in my lower back 3 weeks earlier and so did zero biking or running for last 3 weeks to heal. Really felt it -- sucking wind terribly on uphills -- probably would have gone faster to walk the 1 monster hill (at least that's how it seemed . . . . on my granny ring for the first time ever on my bike!!). Got a cramp in my right calf at about 10 miles in, stopped got off and stretched, but the calf kept "twinging" -- almost but not quite cramping for the rest of the ride. Had the thrill of hitting 40 mph on a big downhill and leaving a 50 yard skid mark as I braked to make the 90 degree right turn -- fishtailing and praying the guy 3 lengths ahead of me wouldn't fall! This was a REAL challenge.

TRAIN HILLS!!!!!

I just cannot get the hang of the riding with feet on top of my shoes and jumping off the bike.

The cramp in my right calf flared up as soon as I started to run. I stopped and massaged and stretched, and it came back again within a few steps. I thought at that point I might just drop out but decided to walk a little and try to stretch it out by walking. That seemed to help and I was able to jog, which gradually loosened up the calf. I was very very winded -- terribly out of shape, frankly, for an event of this difficulty. I walked 10-50 yards intermittently, chiefly on hills, of course. The run course was quite tough with a significant hill right at about mile 2 or so, which was pretty demoralizing, except that it gave a nice long, maybe 1/2 - 2/3 mile downhill pitch to the finish!

TRAIN!!!

1. Immediately iced right knee -- no swelling YEAH!!
2. LOTS of gentle stretching
3. LOTS of water


The injury, which really cost me 3 weeks of training, which I fully intended to use for hill training.


For me, coming off the NJ State Tri as my first race ever, this race was a real wake up call -- here's what a tough course feels like. I don't think it was too tough, I was not as trained as I should have been and I knew that going in. Frankly, a good argument was made that I shouldn't have even gone out, given the muscle strain and impact on my training, but I accepted the fact that I might have to drop out. In the end, my back was absolutely FINE, which was great! It was just a lack of conditioning plus the calf cramp that really hit my time. I consider this race to have been a huge success for me -- that it was a tough course, that I put myself together and got there and that despite the known challenges and limitations, I went out and did it, and although at times I felt sure that I was absolutely dead last, came in pretty decently. My transitions were each a full minute faster than last time, I learned more about starting and pacing and experienced firsthand the importance of proper training.
The race was great where it had to be great -- very well organized, very well designed and marked course, great timing, plenty of volunteers who were really helpful. Amenities were fine -- plenty of icy cold water, bananas, snacks, bagels and peanut butter -- the most important things. No beer truck, pizza van, massage tent, etc. but that's just frills. This race had everything that counts in abundance. I was really jazzed by how genuinely supportive the volunteers were, cheering me on as I was clearly struggling on the run and very helpful immediately afterwards in getting me ice packs and stuff for my knee.