LAST RACE OF THE SEASON!!!!! HOOOOOORAY!

I arrived at the racesite around 6:30am. Being that the location was about an hour from where I live, I wasn't able to goto packet pick-up the day before...so I had to wait in line to get my number, etc. I goto body marked, grabbed my chip, and was off to my rack. I spent about 15 minutes getting my number on the bike, on the helmet, shoes on the bike, wetsuit out, racesuit on, and all the other intangibles! The beach/lake start was about a 5 minute walk from the transition, so I headed down to hang out and survey the scene. There were about 800+ racers, so it was pretty crowded. The weather was bout 63 or so degrees, and felt decent. I didn't wait long before it was time for the national anthem.

BANG! The gun went off for the first wave. I was scheduled for wave #3, which started 8 minutes after wave #1. My main competition started in wave #2, which was cool, because I was able to watch him start the swim. This guy took off like a bat out of hell. He led the entire second wave for as far as I could see. I knew I would have to race like heck to have a chance at keeping my Georgia "Undefeated" title in tact. I managed to push and excuse my way to the front of my wave. I ended up the farthest into the water, as we were swiming parallel to the beach. I got off pretty good and was at the first bouy in no time. I had to (sorry) hit a guy a few times to get him out of my way, as he was pushing me directly into the first bouy...he let me by :O) The swim didn't last long, and I was out and on my way to T1.

The run from the water to T1 (recall I mentioned it was about a 5 minute walk), was a hill. We had to run straight up, and I think everyone I passed was walking. I figured I should at least job, being that my competition was probably trying to gain every advantage on me, and had probably run that hill. After arriving at my bike, I put on my arm-warmers (something I normally don't do), and was off. I started passing people pretty fast and settled in nicely. The bike went faster than I expected and was over quick. I was passed by none.

T2 went smooth.

I hit the run in a good stride and was concentrating on finding my competition. I knew he started four minutes before me...and since the run was an out and back, I knew if I spotted him, I could estimate if I'd made up (or lost) any ground. I passed the one mile marker and was feeling strong. Being that this was an out and back, I knew the turn around was about a 1/2 mile away. A few minutes later, I saw Luis (my competition) coming at me. He looked pretty tired...and I was feeling good. But what I didn't know was how much farther I to go until the turn around. I tried to mentally count, to get an idea. But about the time I got to "30" seconds, I could see the turn around. I knew then I had to be less than 2 mintues behind him! I picked up the pace (as I'm sure he did when he saw me), and finished the race strong.

As I crossed the finish line, he was bending over trying to still catch his breath...which told me I hadn't finished much after him. I must have made up more time.

Well, I didn't hang around for the awards, so I don't know what place I got. I THINK my total time was 1 horu, 5+minutes. I guess I'll know when the results are posted sometime in the next few days! Awesome race! Thanks for reading!

Lastly, I would like to thank Wendy at Physiotherapy Associates, and Patsy at LifeDance Wellness center for their work on my body...stretching & massage, respectively. They played a tremendous part in getting my ready for the race! Thanks!

Results posted! I finished 14th overall (out of 750+ participants), and 1st in my division, with a time of 1:04:00! Great way to end a season!