Stacy Taylor, Lake Montclair Oly

Having done this race last year in 3:02, my goal was to break 3 hours, so I am happy with the day.

I was really pleased with my swim, which I completed in 36:16 (3 minutes faster than last year). Having gone to the swim clinic the day before, I realized for the first time (and it was blatantly obvious) that I was not following all the way through on my stroke. During the swim Sunday, I consciously thought of completing a full stroke and follow through the entire swim and it made a world of difference (I was of the school of thought that the faster you move your arms the faster you go - NOT)!

For ANYONE - slow, fast or in between, if you get the chance - get a video analysis done on your swim stroke. I have only been swimming about a year and half and never have had formal coaching of any kind, so the analysis was invaluable to me. Team Luna Chix and our own Mike Gillette and Katie Davidson made the experience well worth the time and worth way more than the $30.

Back to the race. T1 went well. The bike is a four loop (6 miles each). For whatever reason, I did about the same time as last year (1:20:25).
T2 was fine. There is a short doozy of a hill coming right out of transition until it levels out at the top on the way over the spillway. Then the fun begins – this is a very hilly run course (I must have blocked this out from last year). Up, down, up, up, up, down, up, up - ok you get the point. I finished in 51:14 (almost 4 minutes faster than last year).

Shout out to our fellow RATs who completed Montclair - David C (2nd place overall) Kevin K (3rd in his age group), Reid, Randall and Miro – and any others I missed – great job!