Holy crap, this was cold. I don't think I have ever volunarily run into water this cold before. It was definitely an experience. I had a lot of trouble breathing at first. But after I got used to it, it got alot easier. I wound up backstroking some of it, just because my arms were so tight from being cold, and I was drinking alot of seawater (ugh!!) but all in all, I was ok with the swim since it was longer than I've done in the past.

Can't say that I have an idea of this, since the experience was so numbing. I guess I can say I'd have a wetsuit for something this cold...but I don't own one yet.

This transition could have been better, but I was so cold I could hardly concentrate. I was going to put a shirt on, but I was wasting time so I said F$%& the shirt! Figured that'd be a mistake, but it wound up being ok.

Get there sooner so I have more time to lay out my stuff in order. Having everything thrown together was a definite hindrance.

Bike still seems to be holding me back although my splits have gotten much better as my events go on. First 11 mile split was 48:28, then 42:something, now 36:26. The FATBOY slick tires really help. And the tailwind for about three miles helped a bunch too!!

ROAD BIKE!!!

This transition was ok, definitely crowded in transition area, the racks were too crowded too. I had to put my bike halfway down the rack from where I took it...wasn't enough room otherwise.

Not really what I would do differently, I'd say the race organizers need more racks so that everyone has enough space to rack and unrack.

Coming off of a left foot/ankle injury three weeks ago in the Komen Race for the Cure, I was pretty surprised that I actually did this well in the run. The first half mile was a little hard to get used to, because my foot is still feeling tight and sore, and my knee was stiff. But once I got to about mile 1, I was feeling better and was able to run a bit faster, albeit slower than I normally would, had my foot been at 100%. Then at 1.25 miles...holy hell, there's sand! Lots of it! The entire remainder of the run portion was on sand...it was hard to get used to and I could very easily have re-injured my foot because of the instability of the ground causing my foot to bend every which way, but I did just fine. I was very thankful.

Nothing...I love the run portion of these races, it's my strong point. The only thing I'd say I can improve upon is making myself aware that I can run faster than I feel like I can.

Upon entering the finish chute, I grabbed some water, walked around, and tried to keep my legs from cramping. I can tell that I really pushed hard on the bike because my quads were glowing...well at least in my mind they were...and today (two days after) they are tight and sore like I just did a really heavy leg workout. But after walking around a while, I drank some more water and gatorade, and then sat and breathed for a while so my heart rate and breathing returned to normal.


I think being nervous about my foot really held me back in the run. I probably could have come in at least a minute faster. The swim being longer than normal freaked me out a bit too. So I conserved energy and didn't swim as fast. I'll bet I could have swum a bit faster as well. My transitions were definitely off pace this time too.


This was the best race and the worst race all at the same time. Best because I had the best time and improved my bike split 12 minutes over my first race, and 6 minutes over my second. But because of my tardiness, my transitions suffered. I know I could have done better at the transitions and I know I could have run faster. Yet, I still beat my personal best combined finish time by over 5 minutes. I'm super thrilled at that and I know I'll be better in the next one.