Good swim. I was in the 3rd wave, basically only 107 people went off before me. I started inside on the right in the front. As soon as the gun went off, I was swimming and immediately got a calf cramp. I was thinking, "WTF, REALLY? Nooooo!" It wanted to cramp hard too... I rode it out, tried to stretch it as I swam and it went away. At one point I think I grabbed some poor woman's crotch as I stroked when she was flipped on her back as I was passing by. I think I said, "I'm sorry" about 6 times and kept going! Started passing the wave in front of me, and took the long leg of the swim pretty wide, but had nice open water. Rounded the last buoy and calf cramp AGAIN. Rode it out, and kept thinking, "Don't be cramped getting out of the water!" It went away and I brought it home strong to the swim exit.

Probably should have swum a more direct line, I'm sure I had some added distance by swimming a bit wide, but the alternative would have been snaking through slower swimmers, so probably a toss up. Eat some bananas and hydrate better? 3rd one out of the water in my wave.

Long run uphill on grass from the swim exit. Ran it all, but slowed down once I finally got in transition. Nothing to wipe dirty feet on, so just rolled the socks up over the grass and dirt, shoved them in the bike shoes and took off. I had a great rack, just inside the bike in/out, so not far to run at all!

3/46 AG

Remember my transition towel so I could have cleaned off my feet a little bit!

Good bike! I love being in an early swim wave so I don't have lots of bikers to pass! I passed a few right off the bat, then pretty much had open road by myself. I passed a lot of bikers, I think only 3 passed me. One was an elite which surprised the heck out of me, because that meant I beat her in the swim (I beat a bunch of them in the swim!!). Had one lady that passed me on a Cervelo, I passed her back on a hill and her bike was making some awful noises!! A 36 year old passed me and that was about it. There's one short, steep hill coming out of a 90 degree turn, got up out of the saddle on that one, but had to take it easy on the top, it wore me out! Spun up the rest of the hills, and had no issues. I ate some Shot Blox along the way, one about every 10 minutes which seemed to work well. I was still aware of my calf, and tried to stretch it when I was able to coast a bit.

Nothing, I felt like I rode this about as hard as I could without totally wiping out my run. Keep riding, more bike fitness = more bike speed AND a better run!

Good transition, got my bike shoes and helmet off, tossed them in the transition bag, threw on the running shoes, grabbed the race belt, sweat towel, and visor and was off!

2/46 AG

Nothing, good transition!

I must really tense up on the bike, because this is the second run where I get these knots in my shoulders that really affect my run! Legs felt pretty good, but my HR must have been pretty high, I was breathing hard. I stopped to walk maybe 5 times, just to let my HR come down a little. I DON'T like running on mulch/grass... too soft! You really had to watch in front of you to see where to place your feet. Took in water at the first water stop just outside transition, after that I got water to either pour over my head, down my back, or down my front... which resulted in wet squishy shoes and socks. But it helped with cooling for sure. In hindsight, I should have had some of that water to drink! At the second water stop, Kati was taking pictures and told me I was doing great! I thought she was just saying that to be nice... if I had known then that I really WAS doing great, I would have had some more motivation for a better run! With about a mile to go, you come out of the woods for a second and the volunteer was telling us, "Look, you can see the finish line!" I told him he was cruel, because I knew we still had a good ways to go and a BIG hill to run UP! Ran the middle part pretty well, but ended up walking about half the hill, but then I finally hit the pavement and aaaaaah, it felt so GOOD, even though I was still running slow. Ran the rest into the finish, and a 56 year old passed me right as we entered the chute and I thought that the most I could expect at that point was 2nd or 3rd place... what I didn't know was she was in the swim wave BEFORE me and therefore 3 minutes behind me!!! Yea!

As always, the run is my nemesis... gotta keep working the bike, and the run, bricks, whatever it takes to at least be able to run a 10 minute mile and no walking!!!! Grrrrrr, thank god I do so well in the swim and bike that I can suck at the run and still come in first!

None. Went to the VIP area to get our schwag that they didn't hand out at packet pick up... nice sleeveless tech shirt, snacks, razors, etc. Waited for Louise to come in, talked with her a bit, and then they finally started posting some times. They put up 2 sheets and there were names highlighted and I asked what those were and the girl said, "Those are the division champions". I jokingly said, "But I don't see MY name!" HA ha, she laughed politely. Then they put up the 3rd sheet and my name WAS highlighted, ha ha!! Too funny.


The run.


So knowing I had won 1st AG, we waited around for the awards, saw no tables with medals being set up, nothing. Finally we wandered back towards the finish line and they were giving out awards... there was hardly anyone there! By the time I got there they were calling 45-49, so I made it just in time. Got to have my picture taken with Michellie Jones, pro triathlete! No medal, but a certificate with a voucher for a FREE race entry next year on any of their race series.... this one cost $95 so pretty nice!

This is the 3rd time I have raced this venue and what an improvement!

First 2 times were in 2008:
#1: 1:42:43
#2: 1:40:51
Today: 1:33:43 (over 7 minutes FASTER!!)

I was almost 4 minutes faster than the second place AG finisher... yeah, I pretty much had an AWESOME race!!!!!