As I entered the water I took a few deep breaths and waited for the gun. As soon as the pack took off, I started swimming nice, slow, long strokes. My swim to the first buoy was great. I felt relaxed and, even though I was at the back, I felt calm. After I rounded the first buoy, I caught a wave in the face. Then another. Then another. I had a hard time clearing my airway and had gulped some air which made for a very uncomfortable swim. I flipped over to do backstroke and catch my breath again but the water was really choppy and I just couldn't find my groove again. I rounded the second buoy and started making my way back to shore. I started to feel really nauseous and wondered if I could get back to shore. Pretty soon my hand hit sand and I popped up but didn't feel good at all. I began to think that my race was over. I looked down at my watch to see that it had taken me almost 29 minutes to swim the 1/2 mile. I made my way up to transition with "DNF" swimming around in my head.

I haven't been in the water since the Blue Lake race because of all the traveling and vacations.

As soon as I got into transition, I went on auto pilot. I couldn't quit. I peeled off my wetsuit, put on my glasses and helmet, socks and shoes and grabbed my bike.

Once I was on the bike course, my heart rate dropped and I took in some Heed to try to get my stomach to settle. I fought waves of nausea but tried to keep a good spin. Before I knew it, I was at the dam then started the descent out of the park to the turn around. Coming up that hill was pretty tough but I concentrated on good technique and tried not to think about how much further we had to go. The next hill that had given me a bit of trouble on my training ride was not bad at all and I started to feel a little better.

The run was hot and hilly but this is when you get to see your friends and get some words of encouragement. I saw Sandy who high fived me as we passed each other. I hit the turn around and started back to the finish. That's when I saw Doug (DragTheLake) and high fived him as he was making his way out on the 10K. As I came up the hill to the finish, I saw Angela taking pictures and yelling out words of encouragement to everyone that ran by. I think the reason I really like the run portion of the race is because of the comradarie. When you are heading up a hill and having a hard time, there is always someone coming down that tells you to keep it up and gives that little burst that you need to crest the top. You then get to "pay it forward" as you come down the hill and offer those same words to someone working their way up the backside of the hill. At one point I was walking up a portion of a hill and then started to run again. A really fast Olympic racer came up on my right, patted me on the back and said, "That's it, just keep going!"