Was slightly intimidated about the start, as I've never done a deep water start before, but it was OK. Didn't get kicked around too much at the beginning. My sighting was not good today; kept having to correct my course. Breathing and form felt pretty good to me. The one thing that was hard on the swim, is that I usually feel strongest and fastest on my way back in (mentally just psyched the swim is almost over I guess) but in this race they started the women before the men, so as I was on my way in, quite a few of the men from the wave behind us caught up to us, and I was getting kicked and swam over more than I had at the start...not to mention I felt really slow since so many of the guys passed me.

More swim practice

Sighting practice

The run from the water to T1 was SOOOOOOO long. Not to mention there was an unbelieveably steep downhill grassy section which was trecherous. As a matter of fact the first guy out of the water fell going down that hill...it was scary but he got right back up and kept going. I tried to take it easy; maintained a jog but also maintained control on the downhill. Took Dan's transition advice and tried to get everything on and done at once instead of reaching down and standing up several times.

Nothing.

This may have been the windiest conditions I've ridden in so far. I could feel the wind pushing me as it gusted. All I could think of is what it must feel like to have disc wheels. The course started off uphill and into the wind, but was more than balanced halfway through the loop with some nice downhills and tailwind. Saw one poor biker fall going around a corner where there was water on the ground (have no idea what the water was from). Generally speaking, it was a fun course and a really good ride for me. This was my fastest avg. mph during a race (actually it was my fastest avg mph ever!)

Gotta do more hills!!!!!

Spend more time on the bike.

A friend of mine was in trasition with me so it was nice to share some encouragement on our way our to run.

Nothing.

Ah the run, the bane of my existance. I had set a goal of running without walking when I started the race, but I was not prepared for the hills on this course. I generally run in a very flat area so I was huffing and puffing very soon into the run. I did walk a bit on the way out (which was more uphill than down), but once I got through the turn-around and had my HR back down to something manageable I did run the whole way back. And when everything is said and done, it was a fast run for me.

Practice hills. Work on run endurance.

Water, oranges and a slice of pizza. Stretched a bit. Went to cheer on some new friends and other racers as they finished .(Which is one of my favorite parts of the day. This sport is awesome!!!)


Lack of hill work. Need to continue to build endurance and need to continue to lose weight.


My other goal for the day was to finish in 1:45. My first race of the season was a similar distance and I finished in 1:48. I didn't feel like I was doing well for most of the race so when I finished and my family was going crazy because of my time, I was so psyched. Felt really good to have them there and felt really good to have improved my time so much!!! I am pretty excited about my times today.