No that swim time is not a typo. What occured in the pool is about as far away as you can get from swimming without drowning. As stated before I had no appreciable time swimming. Yes I'd heard here a thousand times before not to underestimate the swim. Well I did....I know stupid stupid me. So in I jump and off I go and the first 50 meters goes okay. I'm a little winded when I make the turn but figure I am fit enough and I'll settle into a rythym. Then it happened.

My glorious moustache apparently holds water like a sponge. As I turn my head on the second lap to breathe water runs from my lovely stache back straght up into my nose sending me into a coughing fit. I tread water as I try and regain my composure to carry on. Start again and the same thing happens only this time I try and push through and end up sucking water. By the time I hit the wall again I am having major "chlorine" burps. Have you ever tried to burp underwater while breathing, it is a challenge. The next 50 meters watched me continue to get drowned by my own facial hair which made me really tighten up and my form (what little I had) deterioated. So after numerous "near death" experiences I had enough and switched over to backstroke the rest of the way. Which by the way I am not very good at. So I was getting passed constantly. My apologies to those who had to find a way around me.

I got kicked in the head, hit in the face, grabbed by the ankle and so on and so forth. All I could think was just survive the swim, it'll be alright once we get on to dry ground. I finally arrive at the final wall after being passed by what felt like the entire field. And as my feet hit solid ground all I could think was "hehehehe...yeah buddy now its my turn"

I've already started doing it. Joining the Y to swim. Getting a coach to get me right. I'll be swimming 3 - 4 days a week. That was absolutely embarassing.

Transition area was my only complaint about the race. On a gravel parking lot, at least run a street sweeper through it, at most lay down some astro turf. My feet hurt.

I thought I was making good time, but perhaps it was just my elation to have not died in the pool. Either way I could have run harder into and out of transition.

Hustle more, quit wasting time.

Admittedly the bike is where I am the most comfortable and it showed. After dragging my sorry carcass out of the pool I got on my bike and then started to "eat 'em up".

The course was really alot of fun to ride. It was much flatter than the area I train so everything felt really good. I was probably in the last third of people coming out of the pool. As I pedaled along I was flying by alot of people. It was really good to finally be comfortable and on my bike is where I am most comfortable.

The course did have a few turns where people seemed to bunch up which slowed me down a little because they couldn't that slow traffic stays right. I almost ran over a few who were looking to cut a corner but were moving much slower than me. It was alright though I kind of expected that. For the most part folks got out of my way when I called out.

I really enjoyed this course. I was waiting to be overtaken figuring it would happen sooner or later, but alas I did not get passed. Thats a benefit or being a BOP "non drowner" (I can't call myself a swimmer yet).

I really wished I had pushed it some more on the course in hindsight, but I wasn't sure how much was too much with the run still left.

Probably push it a little more out on the course. I feel like I left a little speed out there.

I got back to my rack to find two bikes toppled over where I was staged. So I had to lay mine down. Re-rack theirs so I could get mine on the rack. Helmet off, shoes on and out the door I went.

Not stage my stuff next to selfish nimrods. Hustle maybe a bit more coming in.

Coming out of T2 my legs felt solid. No problems other than trying to keep my pace manageable. I always have that problem running off the bike. My mind and eyes are so used to seeing thing moving by faster that they sometimes push my legs too hard early on and I get gassed before I finish.

1st mile turned at 8:32 which I thought might be a little to fast so I tried to throttle back a little to conserve energy. I continued on and slowly passed people here and there along the way.

There was a soul sapping little hill that really seemed to go on forever. In reality the hill wasn't that long or steep it just seemed that way. Mile 2 clicked by and I was down to a 9:30 pace. This irked me something fierce because I had throttled back too much. I was looking for anything sub 9 as far as average pace went and here I was cruising right at 9.

The third mile seemed to take longer than I thought. Someone finally blew by me, and my heart sank until I realized looking at his calf that he was a relay team member so all he had to do was run. I continued to pass some people and other than the relay guy I held off any comers.

As I was getting towards the end one of the volunteers offered me these words of encouragement to lift my spirts "doing great 203, and that is an excellent moustache sir" Made me laugh and helped me pick up the pace. Clocked the last mile @ 9:05. I made the turn for the finish line which was and uphill run and tried my best to kick it into gear.

On a side note a kids triathlon club had set up a splash zone. Runners could choose to run through it and the kids would squirt you with water guns. As I approached each time I saw a lot of people opting out and the visible dissappointment of the kids when nobody wanted to get sprayed. Well I challenged 'em on the way out and way in and they had a blast shooting this big dude with an awesome moustache. It was great and people need to quit being such sticks in the mud.

I really felt pretty good. Need to focus more on controlling my pace early on. But not too bad for my first time in a race environment. I was happy with it.

Crossed the line. Got an ice towel (great idea by the way), ice bag, and finisher medal. Checked my time and found my training partner had smoked me by 8:30. His swim time was 10 minutes faster than mine. We basked in the glow of finishing our first triathlon and reaching our unspoken time goal of sub 90 minute finishes.

We went over to the tranisition area. They wouldn't open it to athletes until the last bike was off the course. So we got to cheer in the very last people on the course it was an awesome experience and great to see some real never say die attitudes.


Uh in case you couldn't tell it was my "swim" and I'm using that word very liberally.

I will not perform that badly again I can promise you that. My next race is at the end of September and is an Olympic distance. I will be ready for the swim. I won't get my butt kicked by the same event twice.


I've only been in one but this one seemed really well run. Great communication. Informative, easy and open to all. Already have it on my calendar for next year. May make it an annual thing.