They announced the swim was wetsuit legal, which was hilarious at the end of June. They'd emailed last night saying it was on the border and to bring the wetsuits but I didn't bother. For a sprint, the time it takes me to wrestle it off would have been ridiculous.

Not having swam in months, there were low expectations for this. Started off strong and fast, getting around a few of the girls in front of me. Then my arms got tired - already?! Lol time for a little breast stroke. Settled into a better groove on the back half but the swim seemed pretty long - I guess that's what I get for not training :)

Train?

Carpet from the lake up to T1 is nice, until you get to the parking lot and get gravel in your feet. Tried to brush some off but a few pebbles made their way into my shoes. Otherwise nothing crazy happened here.

Nothing

First race on my new bike and since I had my shifters fixed this week I had all my gears to work with. Tried hard to get momentum going on the slight down hills, but the slight up hills seemed harder than they should have been (wondering if my brakes were rubbing or something).

At the turnaround where the Oly bikers go straight, an Oly rider was passing me on the left, but I needed to turn left. I sensed him and slowed down to let him go before I turned, and he slowed down too?! Said a few swear words as he passed but I'm like "ummm, pass me - I'm not going to turn in front of you and wreck us both!"

On the back half I kept trying to catch a girl in green but never could. Even hitting it hard on the downhills I was going 23mph and made NO close on the gap. Bah. Felt good to ride hard, and I can tell I need more practice. Obvi.

Not sure.

MY HEIDI was volunteering at bike dismount, nice to see a cheerleader. Ran to my spot and did everything without incident.

Nothing

Felt a bit sluggish coming off the bike but tried hard to push just a little bit. Saw Michael (ya'll remember Dr. Speedo?!) coming in to finish and said good job. Saw Eric on his heels and high fived him. The first mile seemed to take forever but then it got a bit easier and I got a bit faster.

Took both water and Gatorade at each aid station (LOVE that there are 3 on this course), smiled and cheered everyone on. The humidity was at around 90%, no joke, so the air was a factor. But the temperature was probably low 70s, really nice for a race day!

Finished strong with the announcer calling my name - nice touch. Lots of my old tri club buddies were right there at the finish line cheering for me, I loved it.

Not sure here. I feel I did pretty well for the day and where I'm at with running right now.

Chatted with old friends, expertly avoided Michael (ha), and cheered on finishers. Printed my results and realized I'd placed 3rd in my age group - WHEEE! Not sure how many people were in the age group but I will take a podium any chance I can get. So I waited for the awards ceremony and collected my medal (no podium this year, boooo).

Very enjoyable race and super fun


General lack of swim and bike training.