Positioned myself back in the group a little which was a major mistake. They say go, the fast guys take off and the guys in front of me start wading out doing some weird doggie paddle. I tried to swim around a couple of guys but they are all over the place. Finally gets some open water and get into a groove but I am a bit outside and keep running into swimmers who have stopped and are catching their breath. This is a beginner race and I was once one of those guys so I just checked to make sure they were okay and kept going. Rounded the buoy and ran into more swimmers doing all sorts of strokes. Finally get some clear water and swam until my hand touched the ground. Carefully climbed up the ramp (very slippery) and headed to transition.

Start farther up front

Off with swimskin. Sunglasses on, helmet on, jog with bike to mount line, step on inside pedal and I am off.

Practice getting swimskin off

Little trouble with my feet slipping off the shoes but up the hill, up to speed, slip my feet into shoes and I am off. Immediately start passing people. A lot of riders riding in the middle or to the left of the lane and me yelling “to your left” a lot. Eventually got some open area and just kept pushing it. My goal was to just about redline and hang on for the run. About the 4 mile mark the lead rider was coming back and he was flying! For the first 4.5 miles no one passed me and I passed a bunch of people. About the 4.5 mile mark a female rider with “Cherie” on your bottom passed me. Let’s just say that triathlon has been good to Cherie and I hoped to be passed by her in future races (nice job Cherie as it looks like you took first female!). Hit the turn around and right on time with about 18 minutes. Head back and pretty much the same thing but according to my Garmin I had a negative split! About mile 11 another rider passes me, he is the last rider to pass me. As I get near the end I take my feet out of the shoes, swing my leg over and glide to the dismount line and get off there. Now the guy at the dismount line (I recognize him from my masters swim) is yelling for me to get off the bike before the blue line. To him, Yes, I know!!!!! But the concept is not to get off the bike 10 feet from the line! It’s much faster to dismount near the dismount line! He was yelling to a lot of newbie’s and causing them to dismount too soon. Will need to track him down and clarify.

Rack the bike, lose the helmet, put on shoes (no socks), grab my race number and I am off. I put my race number on just before exiting transition. Definitely a fast transition.

Start the run and expect my calf’s to lock up but they don’t. My legs feel dead but just push thru and try to control my breathing. Manage to pass some people but get passed by a couple. Hit the turn around and just feel like I am slowing but decide to just keep pushing (only a mile left I keep thinking). Keep things going as best I can, pass a couple of folks, eventually get to the ramp that leads down to the finish, sprint the end and I am done

While I have been working on my running I really burned too much on the bike. But in this case with a short run and a short ride I don’t think it hurt me all that much. While I have done some speed work I do need more work on my running speed.

Gatorade, hot dogs, a beer