Message posted by: Jeanette M.

I was pretty nervous the days leading up to the race. I knew I'd do ok and if nothing went wrong I would finish but I was worried about it really taking a toll on me physically.

Swim: I am very glad I did that open water swim last month because it helped me keep calm at the swim start. This was my first time swimming in a wetsuit so I wasn't sure how it would feel. I got started ok and then after a minute I felt really hot and constricted in the suit. I started to panic a bit but was able to calm myself down. Felt good on the swim on the fitness side of things but I was a tad uncomfortable in the wetsuit for most of the swim. I am a slow swimmer and I finished as expected in 40 minutes 10 seconds.

T1: Just a bit funny trying to get the suit off. Felt like it took forever and then I felt clumsy in transition trying to get to my gear. 5 minutes(thought it was longer than that)

Bike: The bike course was great. Rolling hills on "country" roads with no traffic expect for a few intersections getting out onto the back roads. I felt really, really good on the bike. I am used to doing my rides with rolling hills so nothing unexpected there. Finished in 1:30. I expected 1:40 and my computer clocked in at 1.25 miles short. But making up for that I still would have been 5 minutes faster than my expected time so I was happy with the bike. Average 15.5 MPH.

T2: 2:58. Could have been faster but wanted to get some sunscreen on.

Run: oh the run. I am even a slower runner than I am swimmer. I started the run feeling really good. I always feel fine for the first 3-4 miles and the last 2 are really hard. The course is on a paved biking/run trail and it was nice. There were some hills and I suck at running on any sort of incline. The first 3 miles until the turn around were fine. I decided that I would walk the aid stations when needed. I started to really feel run down at about 3.5 miles. I started to take more short walk breaks. The last mile I walked more than I wanted to but I just couldn't keep up the running. When I got towards the finish and heard the announcers I was able to kick it up just a bit. My kids and hubby were there to cheer me on and I finished with a smile on my face. Run: 1:12:10

Total time 3:30:31. Definitely BOP but hey…lots of room for improvement. The only thing wrong with being a BOP'er and in the second to last swim wave is that no one is around when you finish and the food is gone!

I really enjoyed this race. It is well run and the course is great. Even though I was worn down at the end I felt good for most of it. I look forward to increasing my run mileage this fall and winter so I can feel better on the run.

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