The day was set for a hot race, just like last year.  With 30 seconds before the gun went off, I realized that the set screws in my brand new bike were not set and therefore, my back wheel was pushed so far forward that it was rubbing against the bike frame to the point that it was getting stuck when spun freely.  Gun went off and so did I.  I spent the first two miles weaving in and out trying to get around the large crowd and catch the lead group.  I tried to keep my husband in sight, as I figured he could be a "rabbit" for me.  As we rode out over the Causeway bridge, a girl that appeared to be about my age came up on my left on a bright purple Chrono, race wheels and an aero helmet-- I figured this would be the first of many if it took her such little time to catch us.   We hit the turn-around at mile 15 and hit a wall of wind that stayed with us back through transition.  We were able to drop a couple guys from the wind, but there were still two hanging on.  With about a mile to go, pulled away and pulled back into transition, legs SCREAMING from working so hard trying to overcome the constant friction caused by the wheel rubbing against the frame.


 
30 mile bike: 1:25:45
Transition: :33 seconds
 
Running out of transition, I asked how many women were in front of me and was told I was the first!  First mile I was running well over my target heart rate-- I was in the 160-170's.  I was passing men left and right and hit mile two (or what they had marked as mile two) at 20 minutes!  A 10:00/mile pace???  I don't think so!  Not on my worst day!!  I gave up watching my heart rate and just figured I was going to run as fast as I could feeling like I was not quite sure if I could sustain that pace.  I hit the 3.1 mile marker and 1.5 minutes later saw the 2nd place female and then the 3rd place female 15 seconds after that.  Not knowing whether the 2nd place female was gaining on me, I ran like hell for the last 2 miles.  I came into the finish and heard a friend yell "first place female". 
 
I was not ecstatic about my run time, but I guess it could have been worse...and considering how shredded my legs were from the bike wheel problems...
 
10K run: 44:20
 
Overall: 1st place female, 7th place overall
 
Funny-- as soon as the race was over, I pulled my bike off the rack to pack up and go home and as soon as that back tire hit the ground, "POW", the tire blew out!!!  Perfect timing!  I had worn that tire bald!