Swim started out great and quickly reached the first bouy. Water was so warm compared to Lake Coeur d'Alene that it was not long before I was really heating up. I definitely did not need to hood although it is more to keep the cold water out of my ears.

As I rounded the first bouy, there was no way I could see the next turn bouy since it is about 1/2 a mile away at this point. I just follow the crowd and find that I have plenty of sea room to swim. My stroke is smooth and easy at this point and I feel very comfortable.

We get about 2/3 the way down the course and I realize we are all a bit off from the course. I get back into line and now I realize that many swimmers around me cannot see the bouy because they are zigzagging all round in front of me. I make the turn and the first place Female Swimmer (The Women Started in the wave after mine) charges by and I make sure to give her plenty of room since she is in the money.

I can see the next turn bouy and it is a lot farther then it should be. I know at this point that the course is long. I did the 5k last year and had to do 3 laps of this course. I am still feeling good at this point and finally make the 3rd turn bouy and head back down the course.

I can see the pier but not the turn bouy and so have a pretty good idea of where to go. I continue to swim but I am starting to work hard now. My pace has picked up and I know it's way too early for a final kick so I try to slow it down a bit.

About 2/3 the way back down the course, I notice I am passing a lot of folks and wonder why that is. This is a super fast race and I am the only one who gets passed out here. Maybe it's because the course is long and they are running out of gas.

About this time, a guy appears swimming next to me who is stroking along very comfortably and is slowly pulling ahead. I am working very hard to maintain this pace and count 4-5 strokes for every one he does. Clearly he is way more efficient then I am. I get behind and draft him all the way to the last turn bouy and continue to pass quite a few folks.

heading back toward the beach, I am pouring on the speed and hoping to crank out a good 1 mile time. I don't want to leave anything out here.

As I reach the beach, I stand up and start running. Another guy who is wading in behind me starts to speed up because I swam past him. (As he was wading) We both charge up the beach in a final foot race to the finish and the announcer is cheering us on.

But then, before he has a chance to get completely passed me, he cuts right in front of me (Shoulder's me over) and I trip on his foot an down I go face first into the sand :( :( :(

The crowd goes "Awwwwww" and I quickly get up and take the last 2 steps to the chip mat and I am toast. (My breath is gone and I am heaving) I look at my time 41:2x and I am so dissapointed. How the heck could it have taken me longer to swim a mile slower then any 1.2 mile split in an HIM or IM event.

Then I remember that the course is probably long, but by how much?

About that time, I check the time and realize it is just a couple of minutes away from the start of the 5k and I have to get changed and get my other chip on and get to the start line. (3-4 minutes)

Sign up for the Proper Aquathon as I think I could have placed really high in this event.

No time to waste and no warmup possible. I strip my suit off, throw a shirt over my tri-suit with my bib number, swap chips and put my shoes on.

I am still soaked from the swim.

Nothing

I start out in the back of the pen mostly because I don't want to muscle my way into the front. This turns out to be a great decision because I get to see Jocelyn at the start.

Gun goes off and so does my Garmin. (Battery is dead) Now I am going to have to run this race naked. I have my watch by don't want to futz around with recording lap splits. Just gonna run by feel. I wish I had ditched the shoes and run this one BF :)

Past the start I weave through the crowd and I am certain I pissed a few folks off as I scooted through. (Sorry folks) Then I am at the back of the lead group and know there is no way I am going to get any further toward the front today. I am still gassed from the swim and already working hard on the run.

That's OK though. I am just going to hold this pace for the duration and let things unfold. I am doing an Aquathon after all and am still soaking wet.

I hit the first mile right at 7:00 and am reasonably happy with this. Am hoping to crank things up a bit but I don't have much left to give at this point so even pace it is. At the turn, I see the first place runner go by and give him a cheer along with the first place woman.

I am hanging with a few other folks and I pace behind them for a while but feel certain I won't be able to hang on with them for too long. By about half way into the second mile, the guy in front of me who looked like he was running strong starts to fade and I charge past him and the next two or three folks in front of him.

Then I am past mile 2 and I know from my progression runs, the last mile is actually the easiest. I try to pick up the pace a bit knowing a have a short ramp to climb over near the end. (banking up a few seconds) Then I am over the ramp and heading down the other side and can see the finish.

I try to build some sort of a kick but have nothing. Then someone behind me starts to kick next to me and I respond. Then he speeds up a bit and I respond again. About this time I see Chris and the guy goes for broke and I have nothing left.

I let the guy go knowing I gave him everything I had. I cross the finish line and just about die right there. (Well, Puke is more accurate) Get my chip pulled (I am the only one with a chip holder and the volunteer is very confused)

Run the Aquathon.

Short jog/walk to regain my ability to hold food and drink down in my tummy and get some sports drink and water.

After watching Verna tear up the Aquathon, We all met up and went to a fabulous place on the beach for lunch. The Huevos Rancheros (Ranch Eggs) were fantastic and just what my tummy needed to be happy again.

It is always the highlight of a race to hang out with the cool kids. Hope to see everyone in Naples next month.


Fatigue from last weekend's Ironman and the hard swim earlier in the day.

Overall, I am pleased with the results. There is no telling how long the course really was but it would seem to be at least 1.5 miles but could be as long as 1.7.

With a 1.5 mile distance, this was my fastest post-surgery race pace. If the swim is in fact longer, it could be my first race with a sub-90 Second pace. (I suspect the distance is somewhere between 1.5 and 1.6 and I am being safe with 1.5)

For the run, I am fairly pleased with the results given that this would have been a great 5k for a proper aquathon. I still need to go find a proper 5k or even 10k to run in the next few weeks to solidify my recent gains in running though. (With a proper warmup that does not include a swim)


I like ICR and they usually put on a great race. They did realize the mistake with the course being long and lucky for the 5k swimmers later in the day, they fixed the issue.

Unfortunately, not soon enough for the Aquathon and the 1/2 mile swim folks because they still ended up with some measure of overage on their course.