Orangeman Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Being my first transition, I wanted to be sure I didn't miss anything important like gloves or glasses which I've done on brick training. I was sure to get some sunblock, Chamois butter and body glide where it was needed.

Go faster. Dad was yelling at me to go faster, and he was right - I did horrible on my time despite running from the water to the transition. Based on a 355 rank (only 351 finished), I think I was last! Also, I will try not leaving the bodyglide in the sun - it had nearly melted and globbed into my toes when I put it on.

Nothing could have prepared me for what was going to happen on this leg. It started out just fine, smooth beautiful ride up the San Juan Creek Bike path, with a turn next to some horse stables, and onto Ortega Highway. On the first leg of the course, we make a right onto Via Prado for a 5% continuous ascent up a hill, with a fast descent. In the first 500 yards up, I saw fast descenders yelling "Left Left Left!!" as they tried to pass. And then, the unthinkable - a biker had a terrible crash. I heard some primal, guttural cries, and just lost it as did another rider next to me. I tried to go over to help her, but couldn't jump the barrier to get to her without facing the 40+ mph descenders, so I had the miserable time sprinting up the hill, and coming down, with the fear of the unknown. When I got to her, I was relieved to know a volunteer was already calling for an ambulance. For the next 15 minutes, I held her hand, talking her through the pain while the ambulance arrived.

It shook me up so much, I had a bit of a crying spell, and contemplated whether I wanted to ride the rest, or ever, for that matter. It was a bad spill.

I was glad to do the remainder of the course. I loved checking out the bikes out there since it's been 17 y since I've ridden prior to the 4 weeks of training. I got lots of comments about my "Vintage" '89 Cannondale.

Definitely will pay more attention on pre-race drive throughs on the course - My dad pointed out the speed bump hurt his back when we were in the car the day before, but I didn't make any mental note of the dangers on the biking descent. I could have been the injured had I not seen the accident.

I also plan to upgrade my helmet to one with some posterior neck support; will also invest in some real tires. Getting brake- or aero shifters will also be a safety upgrade.

For nutrition, I took in 5 gu gels, 2 bottles of concentrated cytomax, 4 scoops each, and 4 water bottles of water.

Made extra sure I had things like nutrition, salt pills and Sportlegs since it's my first Tri. Didn't want to bonk or have cramp issues.

Get sunblock I can reapply on the run.

I loved the proximity to the ocean. Running along on the sand, though was a bit hard on my knees because of the unnevenness and intermittent hard spots. I loved chatting with some of the other newbies and exchanging cheers with the spectators. The volunteers were a huge inspiration. For nutrition, I took in several cups of Heed, 4 more gu gels, 6 salt tabs, and 3 sportleg pills.

Do more bricks.

Put some DMSO gel on the knees, got an awesome massage, kept drinking fluids. A big thanks to Joelle, Dad, Mom, Oliver, and James supported me through this whole thing!


I was definitely being cautious. I felt my cardiovascular could have gone harder, but I was afraid of joints giving out since I only trained for a month.


Very well organized. Wish they did better about warnings prior to the speedbump on the descent; or just taken that leg out of the race.