I think I have figured out why my goggles take on water during races, but never while training. When racing, I wear my hair in such a way that is not pretty, but highly functional. It allows me to never worry about it, AND it allows me to not wear a swim cap if we don't have to. BUT the benefit of wearing one is that I put it across the stop of my swim mask goggles, and I now think that helps it seal. At the last two races I have not worn a cap and both times my goggles immediately started taking on water. Grrrrrr!! After 2 laps I had to stop and dump them out.
My swim time of 8 min is an estimate. The timing mat outside of the pool apparently only worked for a handful of people. This is irritating because when I ran over it I did not hear it beep, so I stopped, backed up and ran over it again. Still no beep. At this point I said screw it and kept going. So when I take my total time and back out all the other times they DID catch, I am left with 11:14 for my swim and T1. T1 was long due to the freaken 1/2 mile run from the pool to transition. It was crazy!
I feel like I had a good swim for me. I kept going and kept my breathing on the walls to a minimum. I pushed off in each lane and swam under the rope. (No hitting the wall, walking under the rope and then pushing off). So I was happy with that. I found out it really helps to have Woz at the end of each lane yelling at you!

The run from the pool to transition was insanely long. I am not sure why they did things differently this time around, but Transition was not where it usually was, and neither was the finish. The run also had us going over shrubbery and parking medians. Nice. Nothing like wrenching your ankle on a stupid course! I was able to dry off while running to T1, and that helped. I threw on my SOMA long sleeve tech shirt over my tri suit cuz it was so freaken cold!! I was worried about my hands being frozen on the bike as they had been frozen all morning, but the pool magically restored blood flow to them.

My bike was ok. Not my fastest bike, and not my fastest on this course. I think the winds really slowed me down, and the fact that it was so cold. Your muscles just felt so tight the entire time. Our thighs were bright pink!!

Somehow go faster.

Had a good T2. Off and on with my crap. I forgot to get my little flask out of my cooler that I wanted to carry on the run, so it took a few seconds to dig that out. But I am glad I did!! The first aide station was RIGHT after T2. Stupid!! And the only other one was at the half way point. I like to drink when I want to drink, so I always have water on me no matter how short the race, and I never regret it. I hate having a dry mouth and throat!

Have my flask out.

It's so funny on the runs because I feel like I am running as fast as my body will let me, but yet I am still getting passed and it pisses me off. I have to really focus and tell myself I am running MY race. I actually was happy with my run time because I thought I was running much slower than that. About 1/2 mile in a 27 yr old came up on me and said "You were a force to be reckoned with on the bike! I just couldn't catch you!" As slow as I was going on the bike, apparently there were others slower! YAY! I was able to pick off some runners on the course, and always said nice work or good job to them. I often do that, even on the bike. There are some real jerks out there, but I just want to let everyone know how proud I am of them for just being out here and choosing this over their couch. The ONE person in my AG that I saw the entire time on the course was on the run. I passed her with probably a 1/2 mile to go. I again said Nice work, and she said nothing. Nice. Whatever. I felt weird being the LAST person my group was waiting for to finish. Sally finishes days before me. I was trying to hurry up and get done so people could leave!! I think on this run I decided that reverse Tris are where I really shine. I can get off a fast run, my legs are then warmed up for the bike and I can totally blow them out while on the bike because you don't have to save them for a run. I don't need my legs for swimming, so I can totally use them up. My swim is going to suck whether it is at the beginning or at the end, so might as well be at the end. Plus, transitions are just much faster as well. Have to find more reverse tris!!!

Not much. I stopped right after the bridge and dropped my heels over the edge of the cement and stretched out my calves. I knew the hills that were before me, and if I did not do this, I was going to really be in pain, so I am glad I took a few seconds to do it. My feet were so cold off the bike that with every step I had pain shooting up into my legs. Took about 1/4 of a mile for it to stop. Ouch!

In EVERY race, the wonderful volunteers at the end who take your timing chip ALWAYS bend down and take it off you. They realize this is what they are there for, and if WE do it, we could pass out from putting our heads down there. Sooo....I run past the timing mat, and this little 17rd old Goth girl yells "I need your chip!" So I stop, and hold my leg out in front of her. She is busy texting on her phone. She just stares at my leg. I just stare at her. I FINALLY reach down rip it off, and when I come back up she is holding her hand out. I held it up about a foot above her hand and dropped it. All while glaring at her. I will be dropping a note to the whacked out DBC guy to let him know that volunteers should actually WANT to be there and WANT to do their job and NOT be text messaging!!! GRRRRR!!!! This really pissed me off. I volunteer at races too to give back, and I always give 100% for those people racing. The electronic ME generation does not make for a good volunteering pool.


I have said it before, and I will say it again....Yes, Anthem is a little sprint race, and people can poo-poo it all they want, but it is challenging. Most of the Tri Family Racing races are nice a flat and simple. Super fast. Anthem is NOT flat on the bike OR the run, and always pushes your mental capability. Throw in the cold, wind and spitting rain, and it gets really fun! Last year this race kicked my butt. I had a great swim, and then tanked on the bike and run due to the hills. I think it was only my 3rd or 4th tri ever, and everything I had done up to that point was flat. I wanted to do this race again to improve on my times, and kick ITS butt. The bike this year was a mile longer and the run was 1/2 mile longer, so my overall time is like a minute slower. My swim was the same, but the difference was this year I seeded myself with the 8min people instead of the 12 min people, and that helped tremendously. I was more "in" with people of similar abilities through out the whole race. My bike was a bit faster (I remember it was windy last year too), and my run was much faster. I think my mile splits last year were 10:14. This year's run was half a mile longer. I actually felt best on the last mile. I think I could have really done much better overall if the weather had not been so cold and nasty, but it is what it is. I'll take 5th in my AG and 25th overall.
The thing that made this race so great was all the ESCKTC peeps that were there. Woz, Zach, Rick, Aaron, and Jerry were racing. Chris was our cheerleader. Sally and I raced, and Zach's new girl was there to cheer us on as well. I also got to see Travis and his new girl Amy. We all laughed and had such a great time! It was great to be there for Aaron's first tri! He has been working so hard, and he finally DID IT!! We are all very proud of him!