I was really looking forward to the swim, as I had kicked some serious a$$ at Luray. And I had the wetsuit which I hoped would make me a speed demon. However, it seemed as though the water was full of idiots. I attempted several times to try to find a clear spot to just hammer it out, but people kept swimming diagonally, or I'd catch the slower folk and not have ample room to pass them. The water was pretty choppy from all the floundering folk and I swallowed more of Lake Anna than I would have liked. So I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't go as fast as I had wanted, but my time was my usual so I am pleased over all, and I did drop a few seconds from Luray.

Practiced more with the wetsuit. I practiced some, but not enough, I guess. Basically, I just wanted to see what would happen if I wore one :) At a few points, I did feel a little stifled, esp. with all the chaotic swimmers, but I relaxed and continued on. And I was a little slow in getting out of the water, as the wetsuit emptied itself of the lake upon standing up.

T1 went better than I expected, considering I had to deal with the wetsuit. I amply lubed myself with bodyglide beforehand, which helped a lot.

Just get good at getting stuff on and off even faster.

The bike made me much happier this time. I'll have to go and check my logs to see if this is a PR for me, but since I am not a fast cyclist normally, I was flying! I managed to stay above 17-18mph for a lot of it, and was definitely past 20mph for good chunks of it. And the hills were not so steep and long that they slowed me down too much - maybe to about 12-13mph at the tops. And I was more comfortable taking curves and downhills at a faster pace, since it wasn't so steep. A nice bike ride :)

Not a whole lot. I held back a little more than I probably had to, though. Not let NewLeaf catch up to me at the end ;)

T2 was fine. I think I need to readjust the speed laces so my shoes are a tad easier to put on. Drank some water, and took off - I passed my goggles on the way, which I had dropped in T1 - I had pulled my goggles and cap up into the sleeve of my wetsuit as I took it off, but they must have fallen out. Luckily, I was able to find them after the race.

I need to master the "getting out of my shoes" before I'm off the bike thing ;)

I am so NOT a runner! And after biking I am even less of a runner. The run was what I expected - me just trying to make it to the end! I did have to walk in spots, but I was able to run a lot of it. I hadn't run a whole ton after Luray up until this race, so that probably didn't help. At one point, I got a little bit of a pain in my shin, but it was quickly walked off.

Become an awesome runner over the winter!

Drank some powerade, snagged some oreos and a hamburger. Walked around and cheered the people still finishing.


Just my inexperience - I plan to train over the winter so that I make some good improvements. This season, being my first, was just a "tri and see" (pun intended) - Giant Acorn was an easier race, and so I wanted to do it just to see what it would be like if the bike wasn't crazy hard, and also what would happen if I wore a wetsuit. I think the wetsuit would serve me better once I get better with crowded OWS. OWS is not scary to me, but it's hard to navigate people!


I am giving it a 4, only because I've only done two and yes, this was better than Luray in terms of my not feeling like I was going to die, but it was only a difference in the bike. Was a fun race overall, and perfect for my abilities. I could kick some a$$ in this one next year.