Turtle Crawl Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Half tide onshore current and the first leg was straight out against the current. Here's where being able to swim just a little faster could have meant a 12-14 minute time savings but I just could not make any headway. Waves and chop reduced just about everyone to the breaststroke. I swam next to an orange buoy for a good 5 minutes. However once you made the turn it was breakneck speed to the finish with the current from behind.

Should have followed those in the know who ran up the beach and then quartered the current instead of taking it head on. Most of those folks had swim PR's. I was just glad to get out alive. Ref's claimed water temp to be 80 but I don't know. Wore the wetsuit for confidence and safety and figured I wouldn't be up for a podium spot.

Had my suit off before arriving in transition. Quickly got my helmet and shoes and headed out.

Nothing. Considering the distance I thought it was a fair transition.

Jumped on the bike and the chain came off on the first pedal stroke. No bigee. Took just a second to get the chain back on and then I was off. I loved this bike course. We had a pretty good blow out of the east so the entire course was either head wind or cross wind. There were two spots on either end where there was a tailwind for about a 1/4 of a mile. Still managed a good ride. Was so far behind after the swim that I didn't think I would pass anyone but on the last half of the second loop I passed a fair amount of riders.

Nothing. This was a pretty good ride for me considereing the difficulty I had on the swim and the wind. Actually had a better than 20 mph avg. up to the last 6 miles then the wind just got rediculous and I had a lot of 15-16 mph.

OK here's where the reality of the swim set in for me. I was way BOP despite a good ride and had passed a lot of folks but the truth was that I wasn't going to break 3 hrs on this day. So I took it easy. The guy racked next to me was a former Marine and although he had came out of the water far ahead of me we ended up in T-2 together. He was hurtin' so we chatted a bit. I gave him a "Lets Go Devildog" he replied "Fight on Leatherneck" and we headed out with him setting a pace I couldn't hang with so I just settled down.

Nothing. Remember this was to be a fun race.

It got a little warm on the run and I hadn't taken in enough water so I stopped for water and gatorade every mile. Drank a gatorade, a water, and poured a water down my back at each stop. Now get this...I passed some people on the run. I know it's hard to believe but there were folks who were hurting a lot worse than I. Actually I felt pretty good considering. Ran along with a lot of folks just chatting and having a good time. Ran with a 25 y/o young lady from Tenn who was running on blisters and determination. Passed my Devildog buddy and gave him an OOORRAAHH as I went by. Started to get some quad pain by the finish but nothing too bad.

Wear different socks as the ones I had on stayed wet and bunched up the entire run.

Walked around and joked with a few folks. Asked the paramedics for an IV but they wouldn't.


Old age, insufficient understanding of physics as it pertains to oceanography, and as always gravity and friction.


I dedicated this race to my sis Barbara, who, as I was racing, was having a bad chemo day. She was nauseous and weak Sat and Sun but a little better today. No matter how bad we hurt as we beat ourselves up trying for a good finish, there are those who are hurting a lot more just trying to live. Perspective, always keep your life and your racing in Perspective.
I will do this race again. This course on a calm day will definitely be a PR.
Met Mindy Carpenter and she had a great race. My pal Kent B. shared my campsite and managed a great race without crashing his bike.
We rode the bike course Fri and again Sat afternoon after recovering of course.