On Sunday, September 13th, around 7:54am, I was treading water in the Potomac river waiting for the gun to fire. I wasn’t alone. There were about 50 other women between 25 and 30 years old treading water with me. Some words of encouragement were shared: “Good luck, ladies!”, “Great day for a race!”, “Go Yellow Caps!” (the color of our swim caps), and then the gun fired - We were off!

Swim 1.5k - The swim course took us 750 meters up river, under the Memorial Bridge, and then 750 back down river. The current wasn’t too terribly strong, but you could definitely tell the difference when we made the turn around. Swimming in the Potomac was.....interesting. It was a little dirty (as in earthy dirt, not people dirt), but the main complication was the number of people swimming at one time. I got kicked a couple times, on accident, which made things a little difficult. I managed to do the swim in 38 minutes and 33 seconds - not bad for my first 1500 meter open water swim!

T1 and T2 - The transition area was massive - over 200,000 square feet! They needed all that space to fit in the 6000 racers and their gear. It was a really incredible thing to see. I managed to do T1 in 4 minutes 29 seconds, and similarly for T2 in 4 minutes 27 seconds.

Bike 40k - The bike course was an out-and-back that took us up the Rock Creek parkway near Maryland. By the time I got out on my bike the course was packed, which made it a little scary at times. I’m not the best biker, so I usually try to ride to the right and let people pass on the left. Sometimes there would be 4 people trying to go around me at once and it would get pretty crazy. Also, D.C. has pot holes. I went over one massive one and was thanking my lucky stars I didn’t get a flat. Overall I did pretty well though and did the ~26 miles in 1 hour 38 minutes and 13 seconds.

Run 10k - After all that biking and swimming, I was sore. I ended up walking a big chunk of the running course, especially towards the end. Thankfully, they had aid stations every mile, so I would try my best to run to the next aid station, grab two things of water, and drink them slowly while I walked. Even though I was pretty sore, I think the running leg was my favorite this time. Other racers would stop and walk with me for a bit and we would get to talking. Lots of people were raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team In Training and usually had someone in mind that they were dedicating this race to. Overall, it was a great experience, and I managed to trudge through the 10k in 1 hour 22 minutes and 38 seconds.

Finish Line! - I ran across the finish line 3 hours 48 minutes and 18 seconds after I started the race. I collected my finishers medal and found my family waiting in the shade. Wes snapped the picture above: from left to right it is me, my sister Jennifer, and my Aunt Judy. We all did a great job at our first ever olympic distance triathlon. Now we have to decide on which challenge to tackle next... ;-)