I raced again last weekend - a week ago yesterday - just didn't get a chance to write up a report.

This one is in a river, I've done it for the last few years. It's also coed, which makes it really interesting.

The day before, I picked up my packet and saw a movie. The race t-shirts in any size other than S and XL were gone, which suits me just fine. There's a couple of booths set up in an expo, a couple of free samples, and a just the facts ma'am race packet (your #s, your chip, the end).

I got down to transition fairly early, racked my bike up toward the end of a rack (actually fairly smart - I ended up closer to the front and it was easy to find) in the womens section. The race is over 60% women, but you wouldn't know it from the local pictures I saw, which were all of the male winners. This year it was the USAT PNW region sprint distance regional championship, which is really just a developing area they are looking at building national championships for. I knew that meant people in my AG and the surrounding ones would not want to race elite, and would instead race in their AGs, so I expected decent competition. I definitely felt better than I did 2 weeks ago, but the weather forecast was into the 90s. Heat is not my thing.

You walk 1/2 mile downstream to the start, then get in the water and start in the water. My AG was forecast to start at 7:43, but suddenly they were announcing my cap color and I had to jump in the water. I thought we'd have more time, but then the horn went off! OH CRAP! I had to swim an extra 20 seconds around people. The water was amazing. It was calm, clear, no watercraft, great buoy sighting. Caught up to a rainbow of colors toward the end, but we were the second wave of women after many waves of men. I was 7th out of the water for my AG in 13:28 (not my best) and on to transition....

Which is a long run. Somehow, my transition was FASTER than 2 weeks before with all that distance to run. I guess that's Iron Brains getting worked out of the system. I was off on the bike in no time... actually a decently competitive transition time. I knew there were people ahead of me, and I wasn't sure I could catch them.

The bike, is not my fave. 3 loops and the road is not well paved for one section - where you're going almost false flat uphill, a little more than that. A grind. First loop, I'm passing mostly men and it's crowded; second loop, I'm passing men and women and it's really crowded; third loop I'm passing slower men and a lot of women and it's still crowded. I didn't drop my water this time, took in 2 shots of gel as usual (not quite full servings, I use a flask), and was caught by a few people (looks like 4). Another fast race - I averaged 19.56MPH.

Into T2 and putting on the toes - which also went on easier than last time. I made sure to wear them ahead of time, but they still don't go on as easily as others. I'm not sure how much I care, they take just as much time to put on as shoe-shoes. I sipped some water, knowing where the first/only aid station was. Wise choice! It was getting warm, and I hate running warm.

On the run, I pressed on. I pushed - I had my heart monitor on and kept it at/above my 5k maximum. Flat to uphill for mile 1, there's a pretty decent uphill section in the middle for about 1/2 mile, then turn around downhill, then flat to downhill for mile 3. I got passed - but not by people in my age group. I apparently was in The Gap - people who biked my speed ran faster than I did, and people who biked slower also ran slower. I was only caught by ONE person even though I averaged a 9:36 mile. It felt like I was going faster... ugh. Too warm for me.

I finished 12th AG, 2 or 3 minutes slower than last year, but it wasn't as warm. That 2 minutes makes a difference, last year I was 6th - but this year was also way more competitive.

A good photo near the finish: https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net..._6188119_n.jpg

I took this past weekend off. I could have raced an Olympic distance local event, but I decided I'd rather take the brain vacation (a difficult decision for me). I am out of town this weekend with my husband, my next race is Aug 14 - the Danskin Tri in Seattle.