This was, by far, one of the hardest wave starts I've ever done. There were women everywhere! The women were in the last wave and we were all together. We had waded in the water to start and was sort of near the front with Steph. I joked that I wanted to draft off her because I know she's faster than me - yeah, that didn't happen. We waited for the first 4 waves and then we were off. I was trying to sprint to get out and find clear water but that never happened. As soon as we started I was in a pack of women and was pretty much with them the whole time. I was breathing on my right side every 2 strokes. I never felt like I got a rhythm and felt like I was fighting my way through. I got kicked by a lot of women swimming breastroke.

Once we started, I could see water starting to leak in to the right side of my goggles. By the time I got to the orange buoy it was completely filled and my left side was fogged. Ugh, I could barely see where I was going. Luckily, I could see the huge yellow turn buoy so I made it to there, did the buoy turn and as I started swimming toward the other yellow buoy I let the water out. This is how the swim went until the finish. It filled again and I could barely see where the finish was except the big inflatable at the start. I was in a pack of swimmers the entire time. I made it to where we could stand and ran out of the water.

The time includes the long run up the hill and around to transition.

5/9 AG
33/83 O/A (this number will include all women, including Athenas)

I don't know except not swallow water. Ick. I'm disappointed this swim didn't go better. I think I have decent speed, for a triathlete, in the pool but it hasn't transferred to open water this year. I can swim sub 2:00/100 meters in the pool all day but have yet to do that in a race this season. It's frustrating because of the 3 sports, swimming used to be my strength.

Looking at the results, there were only 23 out of 83 women who were under 10:00 for the swim. I felt like I was so slow based on my time but I was definitely in the middle - that would explain why I was in the pack the whole time.

An awesome transition. My rack was right by the entrance from the swim. I slipped my feet in to my shoes, put on my sunglasses and helmet and was off. I have 2 straps and a rachet on my shoes but I left the rachet open while the 2 straps were closed so I didn't have to mess with them. I ran with my bike, got to the mount line and was off. I left the rachet open until I was on the bike and moving and got it buckled.

Nothing.

1/9 AG
2/83 O/A

For this race I had planned to hammer the bike and try to hang on for the run. At the beginning my HR was high but knew I could get through it. I started out fast and tried not to let up. At the very beginning, a "fast" girl from my rack passed me (I had a faster T1) and my gut reaction was to drop the hammer and tuck in behind her. Then I had a head check and knew I couldn't do that, drop the roadie mentality. I had to let her go and didn't see her again.

My stomach was flip-flopping but thought it would settle down, it didn't. It never settled completely but for most of the ride it was fine. I was passing people, mostly men because they had all started before me. I stayed aero when I could, took the turns fast and hammered it. I was hammering up the hills too.

I tried to take a couple drinks of my Gatorade Endurance (my back-up hydration, REI was out of Gu2o!) and it was awful. After one drink my mouth was so sticky. Then I was mad I didn't have a 2nd bottle of water for a back-up. I tried to take a second drink and my stomach was not having it. About mile 9 I started heaving, trying to keep from throwing up I was spitting. I was on a straight part of the road that was sort of flat and my speed dropped. I tried to keep my speed up but had to slow down because I really thought I was going to throw up. It finally passed and I kept going. We made the final turn just after mile 10 and I felt better. When I reached about mile 12 or 12.5 it happened again. I started heaving but we were close to finish so I tried to keep my speed up.

I passed a women I'd been leap-frogging with and said we've got to stop meeting like this, her response was thanks for pushing me. Okay, well I didn't know I was so I sort of laughed. (I didn't mean it in a mean way so I hope she didn't take it that way! I didn't know she'd pushed because of me!)

I made the final turn in to the resort, got to dismount line, got off and ran to my rack.

1/9 AG
12/83 O/A

Bring water in addition to whatever sports drink I have. I only had 2 sips of fluid during the whole ride. Maybe yell at the dude who was blatantly drafting.

My goal for the bike was to go under 40 minutes but since I averaged over 20mph I'm happy with this split.

I ran to my rack put my bike up. I fumbled with how to take my shoes off. I was going to try to pull them off (without undoing the buckle) but then decided just to undo the rachet. The hesitation made me lose time. I put on my running shoes, skipping socks and ran out of T2.

Not fumble with my shoes. This was another good transition but I lost some time.

5/9 AG
26/83 O/A

I ran out of transition, grabbed a cup of water and realized I didn't have my race belt. Shit, I gotta grab it. I'd gotten less than 100 feet and I turned around. I told the volunteer I had to go back in to transition to grab my number so she'd know why I was running around the timing mat. I had decided to skip wearing my hat and just wear my sunglasses so I'd forgotten it because it was laying under my hat. Stupid mistake.

My legs felt fine, breathing was okay but my stomach was cramping. Blech. I glanced at my watch and knew right away that my goal time wasn't going to happen. I ran to the first turn-around (which felt like forever!) and saw Steph B. running the other direction. Then I saw the other Stephanie and she was behind me. I didn't know how far I'd run because I totally missed the mile marker signs. Grabbed water at the water table and felt a little better.

A girl in my AG passed me and started running right in front of me and I tried to match her cadence and I couldn't do it for long. I was so ready to be done. Made the turn to go back to the 2nd turn around felt defeated, it still looked so long. I got a side stitch and had to walk, that was when Stephanie passed me. She asked if I was okay and I nodded and she ran on.

By the time I made it to the next water table I really wanted some water. They had tons of cups ready with Gatorade but none with water. The volunteer was trying to pour water while I waited but was fumbling with cups and I tried to wait but changed my mind and decided f*** it - ran on without it.

When I knew I was close I tried to pick it up but it wasn't happening. I felt like I finished strong but I was spent. Stephanie must have known something wasn't right because as soon as I crossed the finish line she asked me if I was okay and asked if wanted some water. I nodded and she brought me a cup. Thank you, Stephanie!

8/9 AG
65/83 O/A

Run faster but I think this is the best run I had in me that day.

I walked around, found my sister, picked up my shirt and tried to locate water. At the food table I picked up a banana but the only drinks they had were cans of Pepsi. Um, no thanks. They also had sausages on buns but the smell made my stomach turn so I didn't stick around there very long. Finally found more water in a cooler by the finish line.

I walked around, talked to Stephanie and met her parents. Then I found the Bachmans and chatted with them for a little bit. I was ready to go so we didn't stick around for the awards. I gathered my stuff and we headed back to the hotel.


Besides my stomach issues, I don't know. I feel like I've been running more lately and going in to this race I felt like I'd be able to run a sub-30 minute 5k. (I did at my race in May) This was definitely a zone 4 effort and I feel like I pushed as hard as I could and I just fell apart on the run. My "everything is firing on all cylinders" goal time was 1:15, my "good race" goal was 1:20 and my "not so great" goal was 1:25 and I didn't even hit that one.

Did I push too hard? Did I swallow a ton of water? Did I mix the Gatorade Endurance too stong? The answer is probably yes to all 3.

low HR: 123
avg HR: 184
max HR: 195


I am unhappy with my running in races, especially this season. I am undecided if I want to work on it through the winter or give up triathlons and focus on the bike. If I run or not, I seem to have the same outcome.


This is a great race, well organized and a good course. I would do it again.