I wanted to thread myself more towards the middle this race so I stayed towards the front wading into the water and figured I would drop back a bit before the start but everyone lined up kind of wide so I just stayed where I was. I was passed by a few people at the start-including someone who was breast-stroking which kind of bummed me out but I just did my own thing and didn't let it get to me. It seemed like there were so many people in front of me I thought I was last but when I came out of the water there were still a few people behind me. As I got past the last bouy I kept swimming towards the shore for a few minutes even though I could have waded out because the girl in front of me kept swimming and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to keep swimming too. Eventually I just stood up and walked out because it was so shallow.

Ran up from the beach. Quickly wiped each foot, put my bike shoes on, put a band in my hair and put my helmet and sunglasses on. While I was doing this the lady at the next rack was complaining to her friend that she didn't think she'd have time to eat her granola bar she had planned to eat in transition. Made me laugh. I ran out of transition got on my bike and took off.

I passed a couple of people early on the bike (the first one of which had a #81 on the back of his leg-as in age-AWESOME!!) but my quads were already hurting after the hill out of transition. I was worried that I was feeling the effects of that run I took on Wednesday so I tried to keep a balance between being competative and making sure I kept enough gas in the tank to finish the bike on the first loop. It wouldn't have made a big difference. The last person I passed was just after the big downhill by the Old Brick Store on the first loop and she passed me back and disappeared shortly afterward. The rest of the bike was pretty lonely. A few of the men lapped me near the covered bridge but that was the last I saw of anyone except one girl who was too far ahead to catch. As I approached the bridge on the first loop the volunteer yelled at me to slow down. Maybe she was worried about the change in terrain as you enter the bridge? I don't know but having raced here twice before the pavement to wood floor transition is actually pretty smooth so I braked slightly but not much. After watching one of the men who passed me power up a hill by standing on his pedals I tried it a few times during the race and found it really is a lot faster. I may work on my technique here but during the race I really wanted to be faster so I could get off the bike because my quads were really screaming. As I was heading back to the beach after the second loop I had to watch out for runners sharing that portion of the course. One guy was way out to the right so I started to swerve left around him and I was about to call out "on your left" when he veered left right into my path. I was surprised and ended up yelling out "whoa!" while trying to swerve right to avoid him. Unfortunately, he alse swerved right into my path again. I yelled out once more in surprise swerving left and braking hard and AGAIN he swerved into my path. WTF? I was barely moving when he finally got out of my way but I was pissed because I knew if I had hit him I would have looked like a jerk because I was the one on a vehicle and he was a pedestrian but what was he doing running so far to the right when bikes were still coming by? I was far from the last person coming through. It's nice to be able to say that.

Being one of the last people into transition can kind of suck because of the people before you rack their bikes however they feel like it and there's never room at the rack. As I ran in a girl was leaning where I neeed to rack my bike talking to another racer. She moved when she realized she was where I needed to rack my bike but I was having trouble getting my bike between the 2 that were racked on either side. One of them belonged to the racer she was talking to and he was nice enough to come over and push his bike out of the way so I could rack mine. It happens. It's unintentional and lucky for me it was resolved quickly enough. Last race I had to put my bike between the racks. I took off my shoes, helmet, glasses, slid on my running shoes and ran out.

My dad was at the top of the hill cheeering me on as I shuffled out to the road. I told him "I literally cannot make my legs go faster". I actually was trying and thought I was going to have a misrable run. I kept waiting for all the people who were going to pass me but it just didn't happen. I was surprised as I hit the dirt road and started to regain the feeling in my feet that I started to feel kind of strong as I was running. I was cheering everyone on as the passed going the opposite direction (out and back course) and it maybe it helped distract me. There was a photographer on the course taking pics of people heading in. I said hi to her and she said "oh you're still smiling-I'll get your picture on the way out". I called back as I passed that I hated that part. Up arpund the corner to the turnaround they had water and electrolyte drink of some sort I took both from the volunteer and turned aroud but she called back that I missed the cone. Oops-I had to run back a few steps and go around the cone. Still no one had passed my and as I hit the turnaround I was surprised to see how many were still behind me. When I saw the photographer again I asked her to make me look fast. she told me to smile an put my arms out so I did while she snapped my pic. I don't know how it turned out. I can't have looked pretty. A little ways further down the road I finally got passed by someone. I didn't think I could catch her but I really wanted to keep her in sight so I picked up the pace a bit. I kept telling myself I could hurt all the way back-it wasn't that far. As I neared the turn to the beach I could see my dad looking like he was walking off into the woods (he was just heading down the road but I couldn't tell that). I was thinking he wasn't going to see me go by and wondered if I should ask the volunteer to tell him I had already passed when I got close because I didn't think I had the energy to walk right back up the hill after the race to find him. While I was thinking this I realized I had forgotten I was supposed to be picking up the pace and had dropped back a bit. Oops. No big deal though, I wasn't going to ccatch her anyway. When I rounded the corner I saw my dad walking back down towards transition. He saw me and said "oh, I didn't expect you yet". So he missed my finish. Oh well. There was also I really adorable puppy out in someone's yard on the way to the beach. He would bark just once for everyone who went by. Cutest cheering section ever! As I got close to the finish I put all I had into a good kick at the end. Then I found a fence to lean on for a minute until someone yelled at me "#831, keep moving!!!". I was just catching my breath but I know they were trying to help and were right so I got moving.

Got 3 orange slices and a bottle of water. Driving back up we saw the 81 year old guy walking his bike. I had wondered what happened to him because I didn't see him on the run. I guess he didn't finish but he's still bada$$ in my book. Afterward, stopped at the Old Brick Store for an awesome veggie wrap and Lake Champlain chocolate. The Aztec bar is surpisingly spicy but good. I brought my dad back to the ferry and headed home.


I really was happy because about 10 people finished behind as opposed to 1 last race. I really wasn't any faster, though, it was just a slower field.