10th at Vineman 70.3

Hosted in Sonoma County, California, is one of the most beautiful courses I have ever seen!!
It was colder than expected, so the day before the race I went to a Goodwill store, and got a kid's sweatshirt (which would be very tight to the body) keeping me warmer and not dragging during the bike course! In the bike picture below you can see how athletic it looks like!! lol

We swam for 1.2 miles in the Russian River; certainly one of top 5 spots for aquatic workouts. The bike passes by a bunch of vineyards.  It has rolling hills and amazing views. I think the run course is nice but it cannot compare to the beauty of the first 57.2 miles...

I swam poorly. I missed the front pack right at the beginning, and I couldn't catch up. I jumped on the bike and it felt good. I rode balls to the wall, as planed!! My bike ride was lonely, as the first person I saw, was my teammate, Jonathan Shearon who with Eduardo Sturla (a pro well known to Brazilians; as he won Ironman Brazil four times) passed me at mile 45.

I had a fast transition and ran at a good pace for the first couple miles. I caught both positions I lost on the bike plus one more! I broke with only 3 miles left!! I was making a tremendous effort to stay in the  boxing ring and run away from the people coming from behind.

It was funny when at one of the aid stations someone yelled "keep it up! 1 mile to go!", I felt relief for a second, then I remembered that at that point it would be at least 2.5 miles to go, and he was wrong. I give thanks to my teammate Rebekah Keat, who made me become familiar with the whole course.  That way I did not have the extra mental suffering wondering why the finish line would never come!! 

Happy with my results and performance, I felt good on the bike, which has been my worst section on every race. Still my bike leg needs improvements but it is also important to celebrate achieving small goals!!