I was pretty nervous going into this race because I was not feeling fully recovered from last week's race in Puerta Vallarta. I had also never raced triathlons on consecutive weeks, so I didn't know what to expect. Despite these concerns, I decided to do Memphis, however, because it was my favorite race as an amateur, and I knew I would be disappointed if I did not give it a go.

After my heat problems in Puerta Vallarta the week before, I was hoping for cooler temperatures on race day. I guess I got my wish, because I woke up to a temperature in the low 40's. Talk about going from one extreme to the next. By the time the race started it had warmed up into the 50's and I knew that I would probably be okay on the bike (I had been trying to decide whether or not I should wear a warm top over my wet swim suit). The swim at Memphis is done in a time trial fashion which means that each person starts one at a time. In most races, I have to start in one big group with the other Pro women. At Memphis, we each left 10 seconds apart. It is kind of fun because it is hard to tell how you are doing compared to the people you are competing against. You just have to race as hard as you can and then hope that you have the fastest overall time. Much to my chagrin, it was a wetsuit swim. I consider the swim one of my stronger parts of a triathlon, so it is not to my advantage to have a wetsuit swim. While wetsuits tend to make everyone swim faster, wetsuits help weaker swimmers the most. From what I understand, it helps the weaker swimmers have a better body position in the water. While I would have preferred to have a non wetsuit swim, I was very glad, however, that I had my new QR wetsuit to wear.

With my QR wetsuit, I finally have a wetsuit that I really like and actually feels good to swim in. I ended up having a pretty strong swim. I then tried to work on one of the things I learned from Puerta Vallarta - the need for a strong sprint from the water to my bike. I feel like I did a good job of running quickly, but then I got stuck getting out of my wetsuit. I had no problem getting one leg out, but the timing chip on my ankle got stuck as I went to take the other leg out. I later found out that I should have made sure that the timing chip was under the leg of the wetsuit before I even started the swim. After struggling for about 10-15 seconds, I finally got my leg out and headed out on the bike.

I did not feel very strong on the bike during this race. I am not sure if my fatigue was a result of last week's race or if I was just having an off day on the bike, but I just tried to stay positive and bike the best that I could. Both Natascha Badmann (Hawaii Ironman Champ in 2000 and 2001) and Lauren Jensen (Olympic Trials quailfier in 2000) passed me on the bike as if I was standing still. This made me realize that I have a lot of work to do on the bike in order to be more competitive in non drafting races. I feel like I have improved a lot in the drafting style of racing, but I obviously have a lot of work to do for the non drafting format. I finally made it to the finish of the bike. I was very glad to get off my bike and start the run.

The run was an out and back course (different from the past two years). I could see some of my other competitors during the run and I did my best to keep up a strong pace. I was not feeling particularly strong on the run either, but I kept pushing myself. I guess it paid off, because I ended up with a pretty good run split. I was especially pleased with my run because I missed so much run training over the past 10 months (due to my stress fracture). I was really only able to start training well in running this past month. My lack of run training made the 10k seem like a long distance, but I am pleased with how I got through it.

I finished 5th overall for the females. Since top 5 received prize money, I was extremely happy that I was able to push myself on the run. While I would have loved to have felt even better during this race, I truly had a wonderful time. Memphis In May is such a great race! Even though I like the draft legal races the best, I think I will always make an effort to do the Memphis In May Triathlon when it works in my schedule.