PHENOMENAL

PRE-RACE : Bino and I left the house at 5am. The morning was looking beautiful. It was nice to only have a 20 minute drive to the start. I had no idea how many were in this race until I got there. It was announced that there would be 2400 racing. I looked at the board and I was in wave #5 of almost 30. They were starting from older to younger. I was psyched. The beginning of the race announcements began and the elite lined up for the start. The sky became black. The rain poured down. Lightening lit up the sky. The race was put on hold and would not start until 30 min. after the last lightening or thunder. After 45 min., the skies cleared and everyone went back to the beach.

THE SWIM(750m)

I decided to wear my wetsuit. The water temperature was 77 so it was legal. After my swim on Monday, I decided start in the back of my wave of 60. It was a strange swim course. On the beach side, it was about waste deep. The far end was about 15 feet. When the gun went off, I could not get to a point to actually swim until halfway to the first turn around. Then it opened up some. I was bumping and hitting alot of people. As I got close to the beach I stood up and could run around the turn. It was then that I relaxed and could swim. It was my longest swim in a tri. As I cam up the beach, I looked at my watch and it was 17:00. I was amazed. The wetsuit came off easy and I headed for the bike.

THE BIKE (14.5 MILES)

The course was 2 loops. I headed out and felt great. I heard my name and a cow bell ringing that signalled me the Iron Snoopy and Moose were there. I was pumped up for sure. I fell into a comfortable cadence on a flat course. I felt like I was flying along and picking off quite a few riders. As I headed for the second loop, there was hubby volunteering by directing bikers which way to go. The second loop went as smooth as the first with more bikers being passed. I knew this was my strongest part. As I entered transition, a glance at my watch told me my time was 44:00. I was thrilled. Transition went smooth. I popped a gel into my mouth and headed out.

THE RUN(3.1 MILES)

The sun had come out and things were getting hot. I walked through the first water stop to catch my breath. As always many of those that I passed on the bike were now returning the favor on the run. I was running at about a 11:00 pace. The race numbers had our names on them and it was great to hear the spectators cheering your name. I passed 2 miles and turned onto a path through the woods. I picked my pace up to 9:30. The path went on forever. I was slowing as I got closer to the finish. The spectators lined the path and kept you going. Finally there was the finish. I hit my watch. My 5k was 33:?? and race time 1:43. Everyone received a really cool medal.

Offical result:
age: 52
overall place: 881 out of 1919
division place: 36 out of 113 ( 50-54)
gender place: 881 out of 1920

time: 1:43:20
swim: 16:50
trans 1: 5:01
bike: 44:42 (19:46 ave mph)
trans 2: 3:35
run: 33:13 ( 10:41 min/mile)

Waddling after a great day.............