GREAT swim. I pushed hard through the entire swim and felt like I was really moving. Rounded the buoys like a pro and was totally on the mark with navigation. Best open water swim ever.

Nothing, this was a good effort and result for me. Second in my AG out of the water!

Decent transition, suit off pretty fast, got my shoes and socks on with decent speed, but my helmet wouldn't clip closed for some weird reason. Stood there for what felt like an eternity, but was probably in actuality all of about :10 trying to get the darn thing to snap in. I turned to the girl next to me getting out of her suit and said, "SERIOUSLY? This is what's gonna get me? My helmet?"

I'd love to shave some time off my T1...it's always so slow compared to everyone else. Problem is I have nowhere to practice this (bathtub maybe? I'm still up 5 flights of stairs, though). Shrug. No real solution.

The hills were hard, but not deadly. They slowed me down, but then I tore down the other side...so much fun. Passed a girl in my age group on the last hill. The third place finisher was right on my butt during the entire bike, so that kept me pushing hard.

Nothing! I came in first on the bike!

Good transition for me. In and out.

Maybe practice a little more running with the bike.

Good run. I felt ok -- the knee didn't like this at all for the first mile or so -- but like I was holding back a smidge (not my "A" race, so I didn't want to do anything stupid). Third place gal was still right on my butt, so that kept me moving. I knew I could probably hold her off, but she saw me at the turnarounds and I figured if she got any ideas about trying to catch up, I might be in trouble. So I kept her at a good distance behind me.

At around the 3K mark, I spotted another girl in my age group. At first I thought her calf said 25. But as I got closer, I realized it said 35. I debated whether to hold off on passing her and maybe just stick right behind her for a bit until we got closer to the finish. But I quickly could tell she wouldn't be able to hold me off so decided I had enough in me to get past her and drop her. So I did.

And then came in first in my AG! :)

Stretched, had some water, ate a banana. Then made my way over to the car to get my pbj and soy milk. The two girls in my AG and I chatted briefly over the race, congratulated each other over our placements and then went our separate ways.


My T1 needs some work.


An excellent sprint race. Very inspiring as you're racing with cadets, military personnel and wounded warriors. The course is challenging but great for beginners and veterans alike (no pun intended). Beautiful lake swim, fun rolling hill bike course, challenging but doable run at the end. Post-race activities are a bit dull and they could stand to hold the awards sooner than two and a half hours after most of the winners finish. But overall, I highly recommend this race.