The swim started out just fine - I was comfortable in Lisa's wetsuit (it's a lot nicer than my cheapie one!), and I seeded myself a little more aggressively than I usually do. I started out strong and felt good right away - I was determined to have a good swim, but then I started to get really, really warm. This temperature is really too high for a full-sleeve wetsuit. I had a mini-panic where I wanted to claw out of it, because I was overheating, and I had to breaststroke for maybe a minute or two, but then I realized I was as warm as I was going to get and that I would be just fine. It was definitely warm, but the suit was very buoyant, and I ended up settling into a decent rhythm. Sighting was much better than usual for me. Overall, I felt like this was one of my better swims. Thanks again for letting me borrow the suit, Lisa!

not forget my wetsuit! :)
oh, and start my watch at the beginning. I got wrapped up in the excitement and forgot to start it. It would have been nice to know the running totals for the race later on.

It was definitely harder to get the full-sleeve wetsuit off, and I was trying to be really careful to not snag it on anything, since it wasn't mine! Then you had to gather all you stuff together in a bag if you wanted the volunteers to bring it up to T2 afterwards (I knew I wouldn't want to walk back down in the heat after the race). Other than that, T1 was pretty standard... so those must've been the reasons it took so long. I guess I also took some extra time to really clean off my feet. They had a ton of grit on them.

What a great day for a bike ride! It felt SO GOOD to get out on the bike, after the warm swim. I settled into a good pace from the get-go, and felt very comfortable riding. I pushed myself up all the hills, getting out of the saddle on most of them (even staying in the big ring for a couple). I got passed by a couple ladies and a TON of the carbon fiber posse of course!, but did a lot of passing myself. In the back of my mind I was worried about that mean dog that had bothered me last month, but there were just so many cyclists out there, that I wasn't really concerned by the time we got to his house (and he wasn't out anyway).

The bigger issue was with the cars getting in the midst of large groups of cyclists. Seriously people, do you need to be going somewhere that badly? Just stay at home and make some pancakes, m'kay? Overall, though, it wasn't so bad. The most annoying thing was the mandatory dismount around mile 25 for the oil spill in the road. Nice. But besides that, I thoroughly enjoyed this ride! Nutrition was one bottle of Gatorade, 2-3 bottles of water, one endurolyte every half hour, and alternating a GU & granola bar every 45 min. Works well for me.

nada

Apparently I spent a lot of time in T2! All I can really remember doing is putting on sunscreen and messing with my shoes (don't have yankz on this season).

Put yankz on my shoes. Get a spray sunscreen and use that on arms/shoulder/legs, but skip the face and use a visor instead - I got pretty badly burned on my forehead because I didn't put sunscreen on it. I was afraid it would run into my eyes during the whole run (which it probably would have), but still, my poor forehead is crazy red now...

I started off the run at an average pace - I wasn't looking to break any speed records, just wanted to find a comfortable pace, and hold it as long as I could. Surprisingly, I ended up feeling pretty good the whole time. Don't get me wrong, it was freaking HOT out there, and there was very, very little shade, but muscle/joint-wise, this was one of my best runs. I kept waiting for the wheels to fall off, but they never did. At just about every aid station, I got a cup of ice and dumped it in the front & back of my sports bra. That was really the saving grace of the day. I also took in Gatorade at most stations. Had a GU about halfway through, and a couple endurolytes spaced throughout the run.

I ran every step of this run, which I am very proud of. I have never done such a long continuous run, period, much less at this kind of pace. Although the course *should* have been 13.1 miles, a lot of people's Garmins reported 12.56, and after mapping it out as best I could on mapmyrun.com, I agree that it was short. But even at 12.56 miles, that still works out to a 9:58 pace, and I am so, so very pysched about that. Any way you slice it, this was a "half-marathon" PR for me. :)

nothing! I still can't believe I pulled this off.

Right after I finished I found some BT friends (IKENTRI, Petetring, and Montyzooma) and chatted a little, while stretching. Walked around the site, but it was kind of lonely (I was flying solo for this race), so I went ahead and picked up my bike and packed the car. I got my results printed off at the finisher's tent - I knew I'd be close to 6 hours, but since I'd forgotten to start my watch at the very beginning, I wasn't sure if I'd made it under 6 or not. I was very pleasantly surprised to get my results, and high-fived a random dude. Then got some post-race food (pulled pork sandwiches & chips). Went over to Lisa, Whizzzz, Coredump, & Barkeep's campsite to visit briefly before heading home to a much-needed shower & aloe slathering!


I feel like I did my best considering the course and weather. The was my first Half IM under 6:00, and yeah, the run was short, but I'll take it. (I figure the bike course being so hilly has to count for some extra points, right?) ;)

Seriously, though, I'm very proud of myself for all the training I've done, thankful to my coach Kathy for putting such a perfect training plan together for me, and extremely happy to see & meet so many great friends at the race this weekend!


I really enjoyed everything about this race. It is a well-organized, well-supported race. I don't think I have ever seen so many volunteers, and they were WONDERFUL!