was my total time. Times for each event and transitions are still not up.

I'm very pleased with that time. My goal was 2:40, not including transition times. I'll post my event times when I get them!

***Times are in!***

Total time: 2:35:38

Swim: 23:33

Transition 1: 4:19

Bike: 1:27:31

Transition 2: 4:32

Run: 35:44

Very happy with those, with the exception of transition 2, I thought I did that much faster!

Thank you so much for your donations and support. The race went well this morning. Here is a quick recap:

I got there at 5:50am, parked and took my stuff to the transition area. I set out a bottle of water to wash my feet, a towel, my shoes and socks, my helmet, sunglasses, shirt with my number attached, water bottle and a Gatorade.

The first wave of swimmers was scheduled to start at 6:55, but a huge thunderstorm rolled in at about 6:45. Thankfully it blew over quickly and only pushed the race start back about 15 mins. EXCEPT, now all my stuff I set up in the transition area was SOAKED - wet towel, wet socks, wet shoes, and wet shirt.

The swim went really smoothly. We started in waves according to age and had different colored swim caps based on those waves. I'm so glad I did the practice and knew what to expect. When I started passing people with white swim caps (the wave before mine), I was feeling like a total rockstar. Then a few people with red caps (wave after mine) passed me and put me in my place. I think I finished around 30 mins, which was my goal.

Coming out of the water

Transition from swimming to biking took me a little while. I dried off with my wet towel, put on my wet socks and shoes. Grabbed a drink, put on my helmet and sunglasses and was off.

The bike was tough, but I did it without getting off and walking. There were some killer hills. I looked down at my speedometer a few times and it read 4mph. I literally could have walked faster, but I really wanted to stay on and push through. At the turn around I took about a minute break to drink a full bottle of water and eat a few fruit snacks (I forgot to buy the real deal, so Cars 2 fruit snacks were it). No major catastrophes on the bike, even with the wet roads, so that was good. I think I finished in around 1:25. My goal was under 1:30.

The transition to the run was easy. I just threw off my helmet, racked the bike and threw on my wet shirt with my number. I walked WAY more than I had intended on the run. My calves started cramping and like 75% of people were walking. It made it hard on me mentally to continue to run. So I let myself walk 3 or 4 big hills and then ran the rest. I think I finished just under 40min, which was my goal.

I wanted to give a huge shout out to Brien, who made a lot of adjustments to his schedule and took on more than his fair share with the kids while I trained for race. Thank you. I couldn't have done it without you!

Official times aren’t posted yet. I’ll update when I find out!

Next up....15k in Decemeber!

I went for a swim this morning in the Magothy River this morning. It was sooo much nicer than Centennial Lake. Not dirty, not crowded and I could touch the bottom (I didn't, but it's nice knowing that I could if I needed to). We did a .75 mile swim and it was great!

This weekend has been crazy, training wise.

Friday, I did 16.5 miles on the bike. It took me an hour and 15 mins.

Saturday, I ran 5 miles and swam .5 miles

This morning I did a .75 mile swim

This upcoming week is more of the same, with the following workouts planned:

Monday - bike 40 mins, swim .5 miles

Tuesday - bike 40 mins, run 1 mile

Wednesday - run 2 miles

Thursday - bike an hour and 15 mins

Friday - run 5 miles, swim .5 miles

I'm taking next weekend off and then will decrease the workouts the following week since the triathlon is that Sunday!

So to recap - my furthest distances so far are:

swim - .75 miles (race distance is .63 miles)

bike - 16.5 miles (race distance is 17.5 miles)

run - 5 miles (race distance is 3.4 miles)

Thank you so, so much! Today was the fundraising deadline and I have exceeded my goal (by a lot)! I am so appreciative of your support.

Although my fundraising deadline was today (I had to have raised $1400 in order to participate in the triathlon), my webpage will remain open and donations can still be made through September 21 (a month after the race). If you didn't get a chance to donate, but want to, you still can!

A quick training update -

I had my first bike accident the other day. I cut a corner too close and my bike went flying out from under me. I wasn't hurt at all. About 2 minutues after that my shoe lace got tangled in my pedal. I had to pull over and take off my shoe to remedy the problem. I'm definitely thinking that the biking is going to be my weak link!

I have another open water swim Sunday morning in Cape St. Claire. I'll let you know how it goes!

Cute, huh?

Today I went to the Iron Girl dress rehersal. We did the swim and the run on the actual course.

The swim was TOUGH. I started off strong but after a very short distance I ran into another swimmer and inhaled a ton of nasty lake water. From that point on I was afraid to put my face back into the murky water because I couldn't see who was around me and every time I came up for a breath, I got a mouthful. I spent a good portion of the first half of the swim trying to swim with my head above water. On the way back I overhead a coach tell another swimmer that it would be easier if she put her face in. She said, "it will be harder mentally, but easier physically." So I listened and I did free style for almost the whole second half. I finished in just under 30 minutes.

The run was hilly, but good.

Reid wanted in on the picture taking action too!

Did you see?!? I met my goal! Thank you so, so much. I am touched by everyone's generosity. If you haven't donated yet, but would like to, you still can!