Yup, I had tons of fun, and our results are up now!

Going into today, I was slightly concerned about my right ankle -- I had a mild sprain about two weeks ago, and I've been resting it. I had a little neoprene ankle sleeve from my days of playing ultimate on fields with lots of divots, so I wore that during the bike and run and had no problems.

Oh, and I was worried about T1, since a week ago I had a dream that I just couldn't put it together . . . and boy did that come true!

So my times went like this:

swim 24:12
T1 11:20 (more about that in a sec)
bike 50:54
T2 3:26
run 44:28
Total 2:14:19
37/46 in age group
257/327 overall

Swim felt tougher than I expected. I felt like I was getting out of breath faster than I expected. Not sure if it was the temperature, the ibuprofen I took last night (for PMS), or the fact that I think I may be 20 lbs. too big for my wetsuit. I found myself using backstroke more than I planned to catch my breath. Never stopped moving forward, though, and the folks in kayaks were indispensible in helping me to stay on course. Hard to sight while doing backstroke. But easy to swim between two kayaks.

I expected my swim time to be a bit longer. It came out to about the same time it's been taking me in pool practice, but I really felt like I was struggling today.

T1: bare feet on pebbly asphalt = not fun. I guess I have to toughen my feet up. I took my timing chip off to avoid losing it in my wetsuit as the suit was coming off, and then I FORGOT TO PUT IT BACK ON, and I realized this as I approached the timing mat. Naturally, my transition spot was about as far from the mat as it could be.

At least I only went back to my mat once, instead of the three times I dreamed about last week.

Bike course was beautiful. Salsa and I scouted it out the day before and got lost several times, but had no such worries today, as the the course was well-marked and there were plenty of volunteers out to alert us to turns and cheer us going up hills.

I'm having difficulty believing my run time. I felt good coming off the bike, legs kinda wanted to run, ankle felt good, so I told myself I'd run the downhills and flats and walk the uphills. About halfway through I felt a twinge in my back, so I was walking even more. I'm not sure how that equals an 11-minute mile. Not that I'm complaining. I'll take it!

All in all a pretty great experience. The volunteers and residents of Federal Way were very hospitable, the organizers kept everyone safe, and it was really nice to get a free chiro adjustment at the finish. Apparently my sacrum was a bit "high" on the right side.

Yeah, I could really get into doing this.

Thanks everyone for all the encouragement these last few months! I'm so glad I didn't wait until next year to do this.