Wow this was tough. I havent' done much real open ocean swimming, and this being on the North Shore made it even tougher. There must have been 4' swells easy out there. I got panicky a few (ok several) times just from getting hit in the face so often and swallowing so much sea water (Mmmm... plankton.) The waves just really made this hard for me and it definitely felt like a struggle just to complete it. Still, I made back alive, didn't drown, and my time was, for me, respectable I think.

Practice swimming in rough ocean water more!! The pool just doesn't cut it - at all.

Everything went well. I was spent after the difficult swim and had to stop and just breathe for a bit. Felt like I was gonna throw up seawater! But all in all went ok - got my socks and shoes on ok, helmet, sunglasses, etc...

Hopefully once I'm a better open water swimming I won't be so exhausted in T1.. that was the primary drawback I think.

1st half was tough, still sucking wind from swim and getting my bearings again. Got passed a lot, including lots of the gals who started behind us. C'est la vie. One the back stretch I felt a lot better, though, passed more people than vice versa and made a strong finish.

Not too much I don't think.

Thought this went well. Racked the bike, changed shoes easy enough, gulped a bit of H20 and that's all she wrote.

Not too much...

Only one water station at the halfway point - I could have used more due to the heat and sun. Now I know why they started the race so early!!

Anyways, my calves cramped up immediately when I started running so I just stopped and stretched them for a few seconds then kept on. My right knee started hurting (as expected) about a mile into it and just kept getting worse, no matter how unbearably slow I could jog. Almost fell a few times from sudden jolts of pain and the knee sort of buckling. Had to stop 2-3 times for quick quad/hamstring/IT band stretches which seemed to help a bit, and I managed to run the entire course without walking, which might have been stupid but sure made me happy! LOL... Thankfully, over the final 1/4 mile the thought of finishing was enough to keep the pain at bay!

Ummm - not run at all?! LOL. No, really, I just need to work on getting in slow and easy base miles. I have NEVER been a runner, and before 1 mo ago I hadn't really run in many many years. To go from that to this so quickly is clearly not my body's speed. I think in all liklihood the Tinman race in July with it's VERY hilly and hot 6 mile run is unrealistic. Rather, I should spend June-Sept working on running form and s-l-o-w-l-y building up my tolerance. Thatway the Tri in October should be a perfectly enjoyable 2nd race for me!

Walked around a bit, sat in the shade with Jen and Trixie eating orange slices and bagels and drinking water and soda.

Oh yeah - Average HR for the whole race: 176.


I'm a total freaking newbie?


$60 for a really short race seems a bit much in my book, but it was well put together. Wish there had been more water on the run but maybe I just should have consumed more of my own on the bike.

Overall, while the swimming and running were really hard on me, I had a great time and beat even my most aggressive goal of 1:30!! I really thought it would be closer to 2 hrs, so that was a great accomplishment I think. In nary a month I've gone from a total gourmet cook and wine lover couch potato to this - who woulda thunk it?? Not me, that's for sure!! ;)

So all in all a wonderful day. As I sit at home freshly showered and writing this, my knee is hurtin' something fierce but it's most definitely that good, well-earned and full of pride pain! I know skipping Tinman is the smart decision, but I am excited to race again so waiting until October will be tough! But, as I mentioned to Jen, the only thing that would have made today more fun is just being better: more comfortable in the ocean and being able to run painfree. If holding off achieves that, it is well, well worth it.

And I forgot the @#!%'n camera!!! ARRRGH. Hopefully the event photographers found me once or twice...