Feeling like I haven’t reached my potential is one sure way to keep me motivated and make me want to return to a race to “redeem” myself. I’d been thinking about the Swim to the Moon 5K basically since I finished the race last year. I was a bit disappointed that my race in 2022 was the slowest of the three times I had done it. I thought I’d worked hard in training, yet somehow I continued to get slower each time I did the race.

1:50:00 in 2019
1:57:43 in 2021
2:04:19 in 2022

Why did I continue to slow down?? I was determined to improve my time in 2023 and I had the Sunday, August 20 race day on my schedule for a year.

Swim to the Moon was the big goal that kept me motivated to swim 2-3 times per week throughout the year. It helped me pull myself out of bed stupid early to swim before work since that’s the best time to fit it into my schedule. For the first half of the year I was able to squeeze 2.5 miles in before I had to get to work. My schedule changed in July but I still had time to do a little over two miles most times I swam. I also made a point of going to a lake for some afternoon and long weekend swims.

By the time Swim to the Moon arrived this year I had racked up 158 miles of swimming since January. I had done 91 miles in that time period in 2022, so I hoped that the increased mileage would help me swim a better race this year.

Aside from feeling good about my training, I was excited about the race because my cousin Heather and her husband John were coming from Pennsylvania to swim the 10K. I love having awesome athletes like them in the family and I’ve been very inspired by their athletic endeavors – like completing a full Ironman. I don’t see them very often so it was going to be a special treat to share the day with them.

I got to Halfmoon Lake at the Pinckney Recreation Area at 6:00 on race day so I would have time to pick up my packet and catch Heather and John before they started at 6:30. I found them just as their race meeting started and wished them luck as they got ready to go!

The 10K swimmers would swim out to the beach at North Star Reach (a camp for kids with serious health issues) then turn around and swim back. I caught a bus with other 5K swimmers around 6:45 that took us to our starting point by North Star Reach. When I arrived the sun was just rising over Patterson Lake. The weather was perfect this year. It was a cool morning and would climb to the 80s later in the day.

Typically we wait until the first 10K swimmers arrive before we are sent into the water for the 5K start. The announcer told us that we would start at 7:30 sharp and that we should get our bags to gear check. I packed up my jacket and other stuff and got in the lake to get acclimated and get my goggles situated. Then it was time to wait.

It always blows my mind how fast some of the people are and that they come through the first 5K in about an hour. I waited with the crowd and wondered how I’d know when I should start. In the past we chose different colored swim caps based on the time we expected to swim. That helped create different waves of starting times. They didn’t do that this year though and it seemed like barely anyone was being sent into the water. At some point it was announced that we should start the race based on the pace of the 10K swimmers. If we expected to do it in an hour (most people laughed because that’s FAST) then we should start as those first swimmers turned around. Since it took me around two hours to complete the swim last year, did that really mean I’d have to wait another hour?? As I continued to stand on the beach with a large crowd, I realized it really might take that long.

In 2021, I started about 17 minutes after the first 5K swimmer. However, it only took me 7-8 minutes to start the two other times I did the race because there was a steady flow of swimmers going into the water every few seconds. It didn’t seem like the crowd was thinning very much this time so after half an hour of standing around I decided I should go sit at a picnic table and get off of my feet. I made another porta potty stop too since I had time to kill. I tried not to get too anxious but I was shivering and wished I could just start. It didn’t help that I had gotten into the water earlier and didn’t have anything to keep me warm since my gear was being taken back to where we’d finish.

It made sense to start with people going the same pace so I wouldn’t get in the way of faster swimmers and have them grabbing my feet. I just wasn’t prepared for the long wait. I worried that I’d get hungry because I’d timed my eating and drinking for the 7:30 start. I tried to tell myself that I manage the hours-long wait to start the Boston Marathon somehow and I’d be fine.

After a bit I went off to the side of the lake to get my goggles ready again before going back to wait at the start. Nearly an hour after I expected, I finally started my race at 8:25.

While the water had been around 78° in the weeks leading up to this race, I think the announcer said that it was 71° that morning. The majority of people, myself included, didn’t use a wetsuit. This race follows USA Swimming competition rules which typically calls for swimsuits. There are separate wetsuit divisions offered though and I started to question if that would have been a good idea! I never truly warmed up but I was fine.

I knew that photographer Greg Sadler would be somewhere near a bridge that we would go under and I was on the lookout for him. The pace slows down and it gets a little congested at that spot so I had no problem taking a moment to pose for the camera!

There is a current in that short tunnel which has favored the 5K swimmers each time I’ve done the race. We need to go single-file at that point to share the space with 10K swimmers who were going the opposite direction.

In general, the swim went well and was fairly uneventful. When I saw the aid station one mile into the swim I decided I’d rather keep moving. I’ve done plenty of swims where I go for two miles straight without stopping for a drink and figured I’d be fine. There was one lake that got really shallow, and one stretch that had some weeds to navigate through. I enjoyed the areas that were wide open where I felt like I had more space.

I stopped briefly for a cup of water and to adjust my leaky goggles at the second aid station then knew I had just about a mile to go. My watch buzzed every 500 yards and I kept counting down how much I had left. At some point the insides of my arms got sore from bending so often as I stroked, but everything else felt fine and I didn’t get too tired. I kept telling myself that I had trained for this and I was good.

Eventually I saw a large unicorn floating in the water and realized it was the turnaround point for the 1.2-mile swimmers. The lake got a lot busier in that stretch with swimmers from multiple races mixed together. I still didn’t have any issues with crashing into anyone, although the picture below shows that people got a lot closer!

I tried to put in some extra effort as I approached the finish. I’m not sure I gained much in terms of speed but I was breathing harder!

Success! After I crossed the finish line and saw that I was done in 1:50-something I was relieved. I made it back under two hours and was only 10 seconds off of my best time!

That difference between the gun time and the chip time means it took almost 45 minutes for me to start after the first 5K swimmer started! Obviously it all worked out fine. It’s also clear that I’m not especially speedy in comparison to everyone else. I do pretty well during the swim segment in triathlons where many people excel more on the bike, but I’m a bit subpar when surrounded by people who are serious enough about swimming to cover this kind of distance.

Since I never really warmed up in the chilly water, I went to gear check immediately to dry off a bit and get some clothes. I was still cold for a bit until I finally warmed up in the sun and then got TOO hot. It figures!

I helped myself to a variety of treats including an egg wrap, pancakes, a peanut butter and granola wrap, and a chocolate chip cookie.

The post-race area was busy with somewhere around 700 finishers plus family and friends. I was happy that I spotted my friend Kristin who did the 1.2-mile swim. She used a wetsuit and I told her that I’d been thinking about her while I had goosebumps in the water and thought she’d made a wise choice!

I was convinced that Heather and John would finish their 10K before I finished my 5K. They weren’t so sure about that, but my delayed start confirmed it for me! I finally found them and of course we had to get some nice family pictures.

They collected Epic Races cups for age group awards – Heather was second in hers and John was fourth in his. They both did a great job and Heather finished in just under three hours. So awesome! We went out to lunch afterward and got to catch up some more which made the day even more special.

Once again, I felt very accomplished for completing the distance no matter what my time was, but of course I was excited to do 14 minutes better than I had the prior year!

I continue to learn good lessons each time I do this race. The first year I was hungry by the end and got a calf cramp before the finish. I ate a total of three Picky Bars this year (one as I left home, one when I arrived an hour and a half later, and one on the bus ride to the start) which seemed to be perfect. The calf cramp taught me to hydrate more, so I drank at one aid station and had my own bottle with an electrolyte drink prior to the race. Last year I drank Gatorade at one of the aid stations and felt sick for the rest of the swim so I learned not to do that again. Sometimes the concentration of sports drinks is too sweet for me and I’m thankful that my own pre-race mix was enough to get me through without cramping. After I was disappointed in my time last year, Heather had told me that drag from wearing a swim buoy may have slowed me down. I bypassed it this year and maybe that did make a difference in my time.

Lessons learned for next year? Be prepared with some chews and water in case it takes longer than expected to start. It didn’t seem to affect my race at all but that might make me worry less! I also know I should do more speedwork. Just like running, it will make me better even though I dread it. I concentrated on long endurance swims and didn’t push my pace much at all during training. That might help me improve my time even more.

I’ve gone swimming through this chain of lakes four times now and recognize what a unique and cool experience Swim to the Moon is. That is why people travel from all over for this race! I already have it on my calendar for next year and once again it will help keep me motivated to maintain my swimming fitness year-round.

– Janet

Follow me on Instagram/Threads @janetboltz and Twitter @reidphotography

Whenever people ask what my next race will be, I preface it with, “I THINK it will be…” knowing very well that I could randomly add a race to my schedule at any time. That’s exactly what I did with the Bridge to Brew Half Marathon in Port Huron. 

The Holland Haven Marathon is only a month away and I’m feeling more and more skeptical about whether I’m prepared to run a marathon at my goal marathon pace. I know other parts of the country have been MUCH hotter than it’s been in Michigan but it’s been warm enough for me to struggle through plenty of runs this summer. I feel like I’ve been dragging a lot and I’ve been much slower than I’d like to be. I’ve racked up lots of miles and should have the endurance aspect covered but the pace aspect is questionable. I thought it might be good to find a race this weekend to help me get through my long run and possibly help me find a little more speed. 

RunMichigan.com‘s race calendar is the first place I go to hunt for races and I found the Port Huron half marathon listed there. My training schedule called for a weekend long run of 16-20 miles with 6-8 of the miles at marathon pace OR the option of racing a half marathon. It seemed like jumping into this race might be a good choice. For several years I’ve wanted to do a sunrise run along the St. Clair River and Lake Huron by the Blue Water Bridge and Fort Gratiot Lighthouse. This race would allow me to check all of those boxes! Plus, the weather looked nice for race day and I knew the course should be flat. Two days beforehand I decided to go for it. $50 was an especially reasonable price for a last-minute half marathon registration!

The race took place on Sunday, August 13 at 7:00. I decided I should aim for 18 miles for the day so I’d get a full long run done. Since I really wanted to catch the sunrise by the water and it would take somewhere around two miles to get from the race location to the Blue Water Bridge, I settled on five pre-race miles with a 5:30 start time. That was so early that only a couple other people had arrived to start setting up.

I wore my headlamp and light-up vest since it was totally dark when I started. I made my way to the waterfront and found a few people fishing in the St. Clair River. A few boats went by and it was really peaceful and pretty.

As the sun rose it was everything I had hoped for. I get so energized by runs like that with such awesome scenery. The hour-long drive had already been worth it before even running the race.

I headed toward the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse but I hit 2.5 miles just before I got there so I had already gone far enough. I knew I should also watch the time, so I headed back.

Once I got back toward the downtown area where the race would start, I decided to hit Main Street for part of the run. It looked pretty with lights strung across the street.

I made it back to the starting area just before 6:30 and hit the porta potty line before it got too bad. There were only four of them and I knew that line would grow quite a bit as we approached 7:00. I collected my shirt and bib, swapped to a dry shirt and hat, and changed into my special carbon plate speedy running shoes.

At 7:00 we started with a short stretch through downtown before heading to the St. Clair River. We ran on the same path I had run earlier and of course it was pretty during the daylight as well. I was definitely glad I chose to do this race.

Sometimes I’m a little iffy about signing up for a first-year race because they can have kinks that need to get worked out. However, I saw that the event was tied to the Elite Feet Running Store so I trusted that they would host a good race. They had a ton of volunteers along the course to make sure we followed the correct route and they were wonderful. It was a quiet run without music or any spectacles along the way, and there were a few groups of spectators in spots.

It was an out-and-back course with several miles along the river and by Lake Huron, a nice path by a cemetery that was along the Black River Canal, then by a high school and golf course. We ran on the road at times and on some sidewalks, where I was a little concerned about how that might work when we had people running in both directions. By the time I got back to the sidewalks there were only a few people still on their way out though, so it worked out just fine. It was a small race with just under 200 people running the half. Although small, I always seemed to have someone close enough within my view to help me keep my pace going.

When we got to the halfway point and ran around a circle in a neighborhood I was able to scope out how many women were in front of me. At that point I was the eighth woman and I was curious to see if I could move up at all by the end.

My real goal for the race was just to see if I could run a decent number of miles at my goal marathon pace, which is around 8:00/mile. I ran eight miles at marathon pace on July 13 and here I was a month later without having run any real marathon-paced workout since. I attempted a workout on a day when it felt like 90° and only managed three miles that were a little faster and not even at my goal pace. The concern about aiming to run that pace for 26 miles was the motivation for doing this race! I’m not sure if I can reasonably attempt to try that without doing the proper training.

My pace for the first five miles of the race was between 8:01 and 8:05 so I was on track and my breathing wasn’t too labored. I didn’t realize it until I looked at my splits after the race but I managed to run a sub-8:00 pace for the rest! I was in the 7:50s for nearly half of the race. My breathing DID start to feel a little more labored and I kept wondering if it would catch up with me at some point and I’d struggle through the final miles. I got into a good rhythm though and felt pretty strong. It really helped that even though it was a bit humid, it was in the 60s. That was a nice break from the 80s I’ve been running in too often lately.

I managed to catch up to a couple of women and believed I was in sixth place with a few miles to go. Seeing the fifth place woman ahead of me helped motivate me to keep pushing when I had a couple miles left. It was fun to run on the riverwalk again on the way back, and one great thing about this race was how flat it was. I was able to maintain my speed somehow and caught up with the woman in front of me. She was running strong so that helped push me to give it my all. I finished the last mile in 7:26!

My official time was JUST under 1:44 with a 1:43:59. It turned out that the woman I passed near the end had started the race farther back than I had, so she actually beat me by eight seconds. So close! I was thankful for her because when it got hard to keep pushing in the final miles, it helped to have someone else around to keep me going. I was still pretty happy to come in sixth place out of the women!

I don’t think this race had any photographers so this single selfie is the only picture of me from the day!

We received a pint glass after we finished. There was a place serving beer (thus the Bridge to BREW part of the name) plus they had snacks like watermelon, bananas, oranges, chips, Pop Tarts, granola bars, mini Rice Krispies Treats, and some fruit chews. Plenty of options!

I ate my snacks down by the water and thought about how my boat-loving dad probably would have enjoyed hearing about this race.

I stuck around long enough to hear that they gave awards to the winners of the 5K age groups so I figured I didn’t need to stick around for the half marathon awards since I was third in my age group. I wanted to head out for some sightseeing before I went home.

I went to Lighthouse Park so I could see the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse. I learned that it is the oldest in the state of Michigan!

There was a nice beach with some pretty scenery and I loved taking it all in.

Although this race was somewhere around five minutes slower than my half marathon PR, I was really happy with how it went. It was such a relief to finally have a good workout at marathon pace. Based on the effort it took, I’m still not sure if it will be the best idea to try to maintain that pace for 26 miles in a month. I might try to aim for a slightly slower pace come race day. However, I still have four weeks to put in more work. I have the Crim 10-mile race in a couple weeks where I will surely push the pace again. I can hope for cooler temperatures soon which could help. At the very least, this was a confidence-booster and a really nice scenic run on a beautiful day. I would return to this race again in the future!

– Janet

Follow me on Instagram / Threads @janetboltz and Twitter @reidphotography

I had such a blast racing the 10-part Battle of Waterloo triathlon for my first time in 2021 that knew I had to do it again in the future. When the July 30 date was announced for this year’s race I registered right away. The crazy adventure race is such a massive undertaking that Epic Races hosts it every other year. I call it crazy because it involves running, biking, and swimming 42 miles in the area of the Waterloo Recreation Area and carrying the necessary gear throughout the adventure. Here’s what the race entails:

It’s a great event for people who have fun doing a traditional triathlon of swimming, biking, and running and want to make it even more challenging! While transitions can be viewed as the fourth discipline in the sport of triathlon, that’s especially true in this race. It’s important to really think through the logistics of transitioning between each stage and know what gear will be required. I use checklists to make sure I remember everything for normal triathlons. As I prepared for this race, I had so many notes that it felt like I was studying for a test!

Following a week’s worth of heat, humidity, storms, and air quality issues, we lucked out with a great morning in the mid-60s. The race started and finished by Portage Lake at the Waterloo State Recreation Area, which is about half an hour west of Ann Arbor.

Since I successfully completed this race a couple years ago, I didn’t have too many nerves going into it this time. As soon as the 2021 race was over I started to think about what I’d tweak to make it go more smoothly in the future. I had used a swim buoy that converted into a backpack which worked well enough, but I didn’t like how I wasted a bunch of time clipping and unclipping the backpack straps and the waist tether between the swim and run segments. I wanted something with a more secure fit during the run because the buoy bounced too much and it annoyed me. I browsed through the race photos to see how others did it and thought about a better method over the past couple of years. 

I’m the type of person who over packs because I want to be prepared for anything. That approach doesn’t make it easy for me to transition quickly in this kind of race. I wish I could race more minimally like some of the athletes. The fastest people stuff their shoes in the back of their jerseys for the swim and just go! Then there’s me with my buoy that was big enough to hold my socks, shoes, a little towel for my feet, a hat, sunglasses, extra goggles, and a running vest with a couple of flasks for hydration. Far from minimal!

Instead of using the buoy backpack, this time I squeezed a buoy into the back of a Camelbak running vest while I ran and biked. Sometimes I struggled to fit the buoy into the tight pocket but it worked. The vest was snug and didn’t bounce, plus it had pockets for my drinks and some chews.

Once the 7:30 start time rolled around on race day, I was ready to go!

We started with a quick run through a parking lot and onto the trails that came out to 1.5 miles on my watch and took me 13:11. A solid run helped me get a little bit of a head start that I knew I would lose during the bike segment.

After the run, I put my helmet and running vest on in transition and started the ride less than a minute later.

I made the same questionable decision that I did for the Ann Arbor Triathlon a couple weeks earlier and opted to use my mountain bike for the race. The problem with the mountain bike is that it’s heavier and slower. Most people aim for the lightest weight and skinniest tires they can get and I went for the polar opposite. I made that choice because I hated the first bike segment of this race SO much last time. Some of the roads were in such poor shape that I rattled around uncomfortably for a good chunk of the ride. I even had to get off of my bike twice to go collect my bottle from the road when bumps launched it out of my bottle cage that was obviously too loose. I told myself that the next time I did this race I would bring my mountain bike…so I did! I learned during the pre-race Zoom meeting that the first bike course would actually be six miles shorter this time because of the poor road conditions. It’s too bad the roads continue to deteriorate without getting fixed, but I was relieved that the ride shouldn’t be as rough.

We rode the rolling roads out in the country and it was a nice ride. More enjoyable than last time! I was thankful for my mountain bike in a few stretches where it was a little rough. I wasn’t as thankful for it during one climb when I felt like I could barely get moving. I think I need to toughen up and try to feel more secure on the bike because everyone else managed to cope with their thinner tires somehow. Most of the roads were okay so maybe next time I’ll switch back to my lighter bike.

I ate my third Picky Bar of the morning during the ride in hopes of maintaining enough calories for the long adventure ahead. I drank the electrolyte mix in my bottle as well to stay hydrated. I finished 14.5 miles on the bike in 52:35, which was around 16.6 mph. Not so bad for being on a mountain bike I suppose, but I’m sure I exerted more effort than I needed to by using it. As usual, a whole bunch of people caught up and passed me!

We came to the transition area where we could leave our bikes and helmets for the majority of the race while we rotated between swimming and running for the next six legs. Since I biked in my running shoes it was a breeze for me to quickly run nearly a quarter mile down to the beach. Between my run to the beach and taking time to swap to my swim gear, I spent just under five minutes transitioning from the bike to the swim.

It was a bit cloudy at the start of the morning and there was fog coming off the water. The water was warmer than the air and it made for a nice swim across Clear Lake.

I should have inflated my buoy more because I was very aware of the weight that I was dragging behind me. I know that slowed me down and I got through just under half a mile of swimming in 18:06.

It helped that there was a nice area with some chairs set up to make the transition to running easier.

Then it was time to run on dirt roads and trails to get to the next lake. I really enjoyed running on the trails but some of the dirt roads had pretty tiring climbs! My watch came up with just over 3.5 miles which I did in 31:53. I spent about 3:30 transitioning to my swim gear and then it was time to take on Mill Lake.

Mill Lake is not a lake where any reasonable person would swim. It’s filled with weeds and lily pads and is not inviting at all! I survived it a couple years ago so I knew I could manage again. Somehow it seemed worse than I had remembered this time though. Lifeguards in kayaks helped direct us where to go to avoid the thickest sections. There weren’t many clear sections anywhere though! At least I did a better job of inflating my buoy so that didn’t add an additional challenge. I knew that breaststroke worked best for me last time because it was smart to stay as close to the surface of the water as possible. Still, I snagged weeds with every stroke and my usually strong breaststroke kick felt worthless as it seemed like my legs were just sinking. For someone who is a pretty decent swimmer, I started to worry a bit! I also thought about people who say they don’t like swimming in lakes because of weeds and other things in the water. This lake is DEFINITELY not for them!

I came across Alise from Epic Races in one of the kayaks and chatted with her for a moment. That was possible to do since I was essentially treading water at that point. She was awesomely supportive and shot some photos and video of the struggle. I loved getting to see how ridiculous I looked trying to swim through that. After I passed her I thought about how all of us are clearly insane. As someone said when I finally got out of the water, that’s why it’s called the “battle” – it’s not easy!

That swim was supposed to be around a quarter mile long and it took me 13:46. I probably racked up additional time with my slow exit from the water. It was pretty rocky when it was shallow enough to stand up and I couldn’t exactly run out of the water.

At that point I ended the first half of my Garmin recording. The watch will not record 10 legs as a part of one activity so I split it into five and five. Some of the timing might be a little off because we didn’t actually cross timing mats along the way and there was a time or two when I finished a swim and realized I didn’t hit my watch until a minute or two into transition. I also missed tracking a few minutes between the first and second halves as I saved the first activity and got the second one started. It didn’t have to be totally accurate but I wanted to give myself a rough idea of how it played out.

The run from Mill Lake to Crooked Lake was supposed to be around 3.4 miles and my Garmin came up with 2.8. Since we were on trails it’s possible that my watch wasn’t totally accurate. It was another run that had a couple of challenging climbs. I seemed to get into a routine of seeing the same people in transition where they moved faster than me then I’d catch up during the run. I grabbed a quick cup of water at a couple of aid stations but I was self-sufficient for the most part and kept moving. It worked well having my electrolyte drinks in my running vest and I ate some Clif Bloks every now and then.

When I got to a downhill stretch of the trail that was especially rocky and a little tricky to navigate, I remembered that I’d pop out at Crooked Lake soon. It was time for the final swim which would be much nicer than the swim through the lily pads! It was also the longest swim of the day – around .7 miles.

At that point it had turned into a beautiful day and I enjoyed looking at puffy clouds and waterfront homes during the swim. However, I was a bit too lax about jumping right into the swim without doing a leak check to see if I had secured my goggles tightly enough. They started to leak shortly after I started the swim but I wasn’t going to stop and try to fix them. Instead, I was annoyed by water getting into my eyes which probably wasn’t ideal since I wear contacts. I would have enjoyed the swim a lot more without that issue! The water was calm and felt great. At least I could still spot the buoys but I was a little thrown off at the end because I couldn’t tell where we finished. Most of the swims started and ended at random spots where there wasn’t exactly a big beach. I was lucky that someone was in front of me so I could see where they went. It also helped when I spotted one of the photographers in the water. He gave me a heads up not to trip on a branch that was in the water!

I finished the Crooked Lake swim in 27:03. My transition took close to four minutes and the next run had more hilly dirt roads to battle. The hills certainly wore on me throughout the day. I realized that even though I struggled with the climbs, I’m a strong runner and it may have helped me build some distance from others who weren’t quite as strong at running.

I knew that we’d run through the gravel pit during this run and I was on the lookout for photographer Greg Sadler. He took some really cool photos there last time.

At least the stretch through the gravel pit was nice and flat. It definitely provided the opportunity for some unique race photos!

I remembered that things would get tough as soon as I passed the photo opportunity. There’s a steep climb to get out of the gravel pit and it’s pretty miserable. I saw a guy nearing the top of the climb and he was walking. That reminded me that it’s okay to walk. I would exert so much energy trying to run without making much headway anyway. As I walked my way to the top I was relieved that I didn’t see anyone coming behind me. When I got out to the dirt road there was another tough climb. My legs were pretty tired by that point of the race which didn’t make it any easier. While I was frustrated by some of the climbs earlier in the race, after swimming through the lily pads I told myself that I couldn’t complain about hills anymore. Nothing was as bad as that swim!

Greg had told me that I was doing great and might be in the top five women. I didn’t realize I was doing that well and it gave me a little extra motivation. I hoped that if I was struggling with the hills, maybe they slowed other people down even more. I got through that run of about 3.5 miles in 35:10.

The run took us back to the transition point where we had left our bikes. A bunch of drummers were playing both times we were there and it was a nice touch to get us fired up. I quickly put my hat in the back pocket of my running vest, put my helmet on, and ran the bike out to the spot where we could mount.

I had 5.6 miles left to get back to the park for the final run. It wasn’t going to be easy though – my legs were pretty shot when I got on my bike and it was a slow struggle for a minute. I knew I wasn’t going to be one of the top finishers but I was hoping that I could maintain whatever lead I had over the women behind me since the bike is where I always lose ground. A few guys passed but I don’t think any women did. I finished the ride in 20:43, averaging around 16.3 mph.

I ran my bike into the transition area where I swapped my helmet for a hat, grabbed my race belt with my bib, and shed my running vest so I wouldn’t carry any extra weight for the last 1.5 miles. I pushed hard for that final run which was nearly the same route as our first run. I knew I was nearly done and it was time to give everything that I had left! I completed the final run in 12:50 and finished the race with a final time of 4:37:51.

I drank some water and paced around with a cold, wet towel around my neck as I recovered.

Eventually I was ready to see what treats were available. They offered hot dogs, chili, mac and cheese, chips, cookies, ice cream, and more.

When I finally got my results to load, I saw that I had won my age group! Epic allows people to choose from a variety of prizes like glasses, coasters, etc. I saw that backpacks were an option so I chose one for my prize.

I browsed through the merchandise while chatting with Reese from Epic Races, who I have seen at a few races this summer. It’s been fun doing so many Epic Races and seeing the same familiar faces who help provide such a great experience time after time. I couldn’t resist a hoodie that makes it especially apparent how crazy this event is.

Since it was a beautiful day I went down to the beach for a few minutes to enjoy the scenery before heading home. Plenty of families had shown up to enjoy time by the water.

I had a great experience doing this race. Clearly, it was very challenging which provided me with a great sense of accomplishment, but it was also a lot of fun. The segments are broken up into small enough chunks that it ends up being very manageable. Rather than running a half marathon all at once, it feels much easier running no more than four miles at a time before breaking to do something else.

I can’t truly compare the 2021 race and this one since the first bike leg was six miles shorter, but I can still compare most of my stats. The mountain bike definitely impacted my time a little bit. It was a matter of slowing down to 16.6 mph vs. 17 mph for the first ride, and 16.3 mph vs. 16.5 mph for the second ride. That difference is fairly minor which supports my theory that it doesn’t matter much which bike I use – I’m not especially fast on any bike! When it came to the run, my first and last runs around the trails at the park were slightly faster this time around while the runs on the dirt roads and trails were just slightly slower. My swim times were pretty similar but the weeds and lily pads at Mill Lake may have slowed me down a little more this year. I definitely improved my transition times throughout the whole race by packing the buoy into my running vest rather than dealing with the logistics of a buoy backpack.

This race offers the full Battle of Waterloo as well as “Half the Battle.” 79 people completed the full race and 33 did the half. It’s kind of funny that I placed 27th overall in the full both times! I also placed first in my age group both times and this time I moved up from ninth place to sixth place out of all of the women. I do this for fun and to challenge myself but it’s fun to see that I actually did pretty well overall.

Knowing how much time I put into thinking about logistics of racing this event I can’t help but recognize how much time and effort went into actually hosting it. I am extremely grateful to all of the people at Epic Races who made it possible for people like me to enjoy this crazy adventure. They had to place people along the bike course to make sure we were safe from traffic and that we turned at the right spots. They placed flags along miles of trails so we followed the right paths during the runs. They got in the water to plant buoys that would mark our courses for the swims, and people sat in kayaks out in the sun for hours to make sure we stayed safe. Aid stations were set up all over the place. Photographers hustled everywhere to catch us at the start of the run, then on our bikes, at two different lakes, a gravel pit, etc. Food, water, and medals were waiting for people whether it took them two hours to finish the half or six hours to finish the full. Epic made it seamless for us racers and I am so appreciative of all of their hard work.

This race was probably my last triathlon of the season and it was a great way to utilize all of the hard training I’ve done this spring and summer. I’ll probably start to neglect my bikes for a while now as I concentrate on preparing for a marathon next month, but I will keep training hard in the water so I’m prepared for Epic’s 5K Swim to the Moon in a few weeks. I always have something to aim for!

– Janet

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