This was a good swim for me. Especially when you consider I still have less than 50k yards in the pool this year with my shoulder issue through Feb. and Mar. Of all my E-Man swims, this was probably the best one. Calm in the water, started off behind everyone and let the melee go on even though I still had my goggles kicked off in the first 200 meters. Just adjusted them and swam on. Stayed out to the left edge of the field most of the time and even got some feet for periods of the swim (which I never do). I did get arm checked in the face twice later in the swim as a guy was swimming at an angle and swam into me. But nothing else of real incident. Not a ton of the wave behind us passed me, so I was happy with that. My goal was to be under 40 and I realistically didn't think I had a chance at that, so I'm really happy I made it!

This was the best swim that I could have had with my fitness and abilities in the race. I was really happy with the result. I'm still slow as sh-t compared to everyone else, but I felt fine and put up the number I was hoping for.

Decent T1. Fastest of all 4 years of doing the race as I did not have a lot of stuff to take with me. I could have been a little faster as I didn't have any real sense of urgency, but still had 62nd in AG and 367th fastest overall.

Nothing really, went well. If I was really "racing" this I would have a little more pep. Could have knocked a few more seconds off probably.

Myeh, not a great one. I had forgotten my cyclometer in the car, but it really didn't matter since the only thing I would have used it for was cadence (my magnet for the disc had fallen off and I've been to lazy to put it back on to get my speed and distance). But it would have been useful for the clock so I could time my Gu and fluid intake better.

I settled in pretty quickly and just went by what gear I was in and my usual comfortable cadence. I did not try to push it at all other than when the first of the 30-34 leaders past me (about a dozen of them did overall including Dan - docswim - from BT). I did get "chicked" about 15 miles in but we ended up staying pretty much together until the wind hit. Then she fell off a lot and I kept going my usual effort. I finished in front of her by a bit, but her bike time was about 40 seconds faster than mine. She rocked and I let her know it!! She also finished 2nd in her AG for the race and did awesome.

The wind on the back side was as brutal as usual and I had warned everyone to expect it. Of course I was ready and because I have a really good position on the bike was able to stay in my big chain ring the whole time and not lose a ton of speed. I caught Dan again and we stayed together through the last 10 miles or so of the ride. Even came into transition together (even though his bike split was a few minutes faster than mine because he started behind). I have to admit that if I had not been the "carrot" for him when I passed him that he may not have had the motivation to push it more toward the end. You'd have to ask him, but he was looking like he was not enjoying the ride at all when I passed him and was significantly slower than I would have expected.

In all not a bad ride. I never felt like I was really pushing the pace at all. And while it was not a "Sunday ride" like Placid was, it was not a Columbia type effort (hard). But my legs were twinging a lot from about the halfway point on. Never anything real serious as far as cramps go, but I knew the run was going to be tough. Oh well, so be it. I actually thought my time was faster than this, so I was slightly disappointed after the fact. That is what I get for going "blind" though.

I don't think I drank enough based on what I usually like to do in races. That would prove true on the drive home when my back and kidneys were screaming and the fact that I weighed 168 even efter drinking some and eating at home (I'm usually 170 - 172-ish after races).

Usual. Train more. Not a lot of miles in my legs, especially compared to everyone else I like to "compete" with. Still top 10% overall for the split, but only 16% in the AG. I'd rate this as an "average" ride. Not good, but not bad. I did beat my realistic goal of under 2:30 though.

Another so so transition. Consistent with the T1 split I was 61st in AG and 374th overall for time. I stopped and stretched a little knowing the legs were crampy so that took a little time.

Nothing really. Decent, but not blazing. Again, no real sense of urgency.

This run sucked as you can tell. Not sucked as in "This is a suffer fest and I hate it" but more like "This is the best the legs can do, so let's just get to the finish."

Dan and I came out of transition at the same time and we ran together for a couple hundred yards then he pulled away. Both quads and hammies were cramping a lot and had a side stitch. Slowed down to work out the breathing and the side stitch and then once that was under control worked on being smooth and relaxed to try and make the leg cramping go away. After about 2 miles they relaxed some and effort/pace was where it could be for me to sustain.

Decided to walk the water stops to get fluids in for a hundred yards or so after each one. As the miles went on, this wlaking length crept up a little each time. By mile 10 or so, the legs were shot and it was getting to the point where running longer periods resulted in strong cramps that required walking to relive them. So the last two miles were mostly walking, not jogging.

Ah well, knew that was going to be the result when I came off the bike. I've done enough long distance stuff to know my limitations and the lack of fitness and training always catches up around that point of the race. Ce las vis.

Saw a decent amount of BTers and cheered them on. Finally saw Traci - vballumd - on the run back in. She looked great and was smiling along with her favorite part of the sport. Aaron - jeepfleeb - gave me a nice big smack on the azz when he passed me without about 2 miles to go. He was looking solid. Crossed the line, got my medal and went and sat in the Choptank to cool off.

Train more as usual. I can't say "slow down on the bike" because the effort level was never such that I was pushing. I just don't have the fitness to do this distance well right now.

Sat in the water, drank some fluids. Grabbed my gear and talked with Fred and Bob (Fred had a fantastic race across the board with a huge bike split and Bob wins the gentleman of the year award for stopping and helping a downed rider and sacrificing his own race for helping her). Then walked to the car, got Fred his beer for putting the smack down on me and hopped in the buggy and drove home.


Lack-o-training as usual for long distance races. It is easy to "fake" my way through shorter stuff and still do well. Long distance races you can't do that.


Yet another well run CTA event. This was my 4th year doing the race, 3rd finish (dropped out during the run last year). I finished, but it was not really that great of a race overall. Good swim, okay bike, crappy "run." Time still puts me in the upper half of the field, but c'mon, will I ever really be happy with that??? Of course not.

I decided (for real this time) that I really don't enjoy long distance races and that I will not be signing up for anymore until I have adequate time to train. The experiences are just not pleasant for me and I have no desire to make every long distance event a suffer fest later in the event. Until I can seriously train for them and put in the sort of time that I know I need to compete, I'm not going to waste any more money on it. Aside from the fact that I seem to have a beter capacity to go pretty fast for shorter distances and sustain it. So that is what I'm going to stick with.