Taper weeks are always a toss up for me - whether they're going to be miserably whiny & mean or just so-so with exhaustion. Luckily this one was just exhaustion as my body bounced back a bit from a couple of brutal high-volume months in the water.

Swim the Suck 10mile on Saturday - another fabulous event. The weather was great, the temperatures perfect (water around 74* was almost too warm). A good bit of rough water at the start & at the finish kept everyone honest & sucked away my will to live for a bit, but it made pushing through gratifying. GREAT rhythym in the middle with the gorge walls on either side, the sun shining down & a good tempo set by my pilot. Passing & putting distance in on the group that comprised about 8th through 17th or so. For awhile we were pulling in the front group but I faded a bit towards the end as the water got rough again & I was running out of gas. Need to be more strict on the early feedings & push a bit harder early on. Conceded a position down the stretch to someone that dropped 45+ minutes off his total time from last year - I can't be mad at that!!! And I honestly couldn't answer his charge, he had the benefit of chasing me down whereas I was just desperately trying to hold him off. Stings a little being out-touched by :10 in a 10mile race...but I'm absolutely not disappointed & thrilled for both of us. We kept each other honest & made it hurt to get where we were, so that's a win. My whole group turned up great results, including an overall win & some really solid times. Couldn't be happier with the day.

3:28:53, 7th overall, 4th female