This was a pretty good swim. I started out well, finishing the first 200 in about 3:06; fast enough but not too fast. My problem was in the 15-20 minute range--my mind started wandering aimlessly and I'm sure I slowed down quite a bit. I was able to refocus in the last ten minutes, thankfully. My last 100 was in 1:29.

Work on focusing on long swims. I was totally zoning for a while.

STandard 10 minute transition. Thanks to autumn for helping me get that %$@#$ sports bra on. I'd probably still be there fighting with it if not for her assistance!

Swim with the sport bra on.

These bikes are...interesting. As many of the other racers have said, they require a LOT of work to get anywhere above 15 mph. My legs were burning badly by the end. I started at resistance 4, went up as far as 7 at one point, but then backed off to 5-6 for most of it so that I could maintain 85 rpm.

On the bright side, I was able to get my shoes clipped in this year, so that's an improvement over last year. Tom made me come unclipped in the middle though. (Kidding, Tom ;) )

I could have pounded harder, but then I would have had absolutely no legs for the run. My quads were already burning as it was.

10 minutes to change shoes, drink some water, and walk 25 feet to the treadmills. I used some of the extra time to walk and then slowly jog before the run officially started.

Um, not drink so much water. Paid for that on the run.

The goal here was to run farther than last year. I did do that, so mission accomplished. But still, this was tough. I was so. bloody. hot. during this run! Total purple face. And I had a stupid side stitch right from the start. I really much get a grip on how much I can drink on the bike without giving myself a side cramp on the run.

I wanted to start at 5.5 mph and ramp up to 6.0. That is pretty speedy for me. Well, I got as far as 5.7 and the side cramp objected. Loudly. So I went back down to 5.4 for a while until it subsided. That took until the 12 minute mark of the 30 minute segment. I tried again to gradually increase, but was never able to maintain the 6.0 for longer than a couple minutes without the cramp returning. I did crank it up to 7.0 mph for the last minute, just for kicks.

Drink less

I felt very yucky immediately after this race was done--dizzy, naseous, etc. I had to sit down for a few minutes and get it together. Not sure if it was the hot room, of the 7.0 mph push at the end or what. Whatever it was, I was feeling really bad there for a couple of minutes. I started feeling better though, and managed to stretch some.


Running, as always.


I went farther this year in all three segments, so I'm glad about that. I still have a long way to go on the run, but at least the IT band is in check this year.

This race is very well run and they had a lot of volunteers this year. The goody bag is great, and it was a total blast having an entire wave of just BT-ers. Can't wait to do it again next year!