Woke up right on time, 4:45 AM. I wanted to be out of the house by 5, which was a tall order. I managed to make it though and was on the road to Lake Lanier. I had racked my bike last night and had everything ready to go, so I just had to dress and grab breakfast (Snickers Marathon Bar). Took me about 45 minutes and the parking lot was already pretty busy. Gathered all my stuff up and walked my bike about a mile to transition. Got body marked by one of my fellow PTC members and headed in to transition to rack my bike. Managed to find my spot pretty easily and got things set up. I was so rushed at Irongirl, I wanted to make sure I took my time and went through everything. Once I got everything set up "just so", I went to pick up my chip. Saw my nutritionist Ilana and Mari at body marking too. It was great to have some support out there and see people that I know!

Hit the portapotties and then headed to the swim start. Hung out for a bit and checked out the course, it was a rectangular shaped out-and-back. Chatted with some fellow triathletes and another new member of PTC and before we knew it, our wave was up!

I wasn't nervous getting into the water at all. And once we started going, I felt pretty good. I was able to put my face in the water and take some strokes. I did feel much more winded than I do in the pool and I had to stop and rest pretty often. I was really proud of myself though, big strides since this past May. I can't wait to see what it's like when I am ready for the distance ;). Once we were out of the water, we had to head up a pretty steep ramp to the transition area. We hit the timing mats just before the really steep part, so most of my T1 time is the walk up that ramp.

Headed in to transition and found my bike pretty quickly. Helmet on and then the bike shoes. This was my first experience trying to run in those and I felt pretty good, although I cringe at how banged up they already are! No problems getting out of transition and on to the course clipped in. Hooray!!

There was a pretty decent hill in the first mile of the bike and then we leveled out a bit leaving the park. A few more rollers and we hung a right and headed up the first big hill. Made my way up and then it leveled out for awhile. There was one other hill that was pretty steep, but I managed to stay clipped in and power up (albeit slowly). I was super excited that I didn't have any problems on the hills and I was able to stay clipped in. I can't wait to see what it's like on a road bike, my bike is so heavy! Made it back up the little steep hill right before the dismount line and tried to run a bit to my rack. It's tough running in those shoes!

Didn't spend much time in T2, tried to get my shoes off quickly and get the running shoes on and tied. Race belt and I was all set. Started to make a wrong turn out of transition, but got squared away and headed out.

The run was pretty uneventful, I was just feeling a little sluggish. Tried to run most of it and just take a few random walk breaks. Run has a few rolling hills, but nothing crazy. Ran it in for a good finish. Not sure if there were any finish line pictures since I didn't see any photographers.

1/4 Mile Swim - 13:04
T1 - 4:02 (PR!)
13 Mile Bike - 60:40 (PR!)
T2 - 2:06 (PR!)
3.1 Mile Run -39:32
Total: 1:59:23

Good race! Great shirt and I had lots of fun. I wanted to do one last tri this season and I'm glad I did it. It's a good reminder of how tough this sport is. I like the challenge of running, but this is a whole 'nother animal. Jury is still out on whether or not I'll get into anything longer than an Oly though. I really need to drop weight, and get on track endurance wise before I even consider it. If I didn't, it wouldn't be fun, and then what's the point?

Thanks for all the support and kudos on the swimming, it's getting better and I think I'll see progress in my endurance soon. I'm looking forward to it!