Once we all got to Excelsior Beach for the swim, I started having second thought about “warming up” in the water. It was overcast and breezy and I was in the fourth wave. Fortunately, they let you warm up in a separate area from the race even after it’s begun. So I swam as close to my start as possible. However, I was foiled. The race officials had to rescue or check on a swimmer before our wave, so I expended all of my stored energy shivering. Maybe that’s the actual reason other people wear wetsuits.
I asked the other guys with green swim caps (my wave mates) what a slower swimmer should do. I’d heard you stay to one side, but they told me to give everyone a ten second start. It worked out pretty well, I didn’t get hit that much on the course. The swim didn’t feel too bad and I beat my “pool” swim time for the same distance. The exit was a little chaotic as red, yellow, and green wave swimmers of different speeds bottlenecked trying to get out.
The Garmin has me swimming .69 instead of .50.

More open water training. Work on swimming straight and efficient.

I ran to my bike and naturally started putting on running instead of bike shoes. After getting my act together, I ran my bike out of the transition area.

Practice having bike shoes attached to the pedals in advance and mounting the bike.

After getting my act together, I ran my bike out of the transition area. I started out pretty slow, my legs apparently had been signaled by my brain to go dormant in the cool water.
The bike leg was uneventful. I decided not to push extra hard as my legs weren’t feeling too energetic. I drank a bunch water before the event, so couldn’t get much fluid down during the race. I was planning to have some energy gel on the bike, but apparently it doesn’t work to tape it to the bike with thirty year old electrical tape.


Drink more and practice eating on the bike. Also, need to work on hill repeats.

I initially racked my bike one space to the left of where it was supposed to be. I realized the mistake and then took it down and moved it over.

Then the other shoe dropped. No one knows for certain what causes cramped, but lack of hydration is one. My transition from bike to running was met with a mighty Charlie Horse in my quadricep. I sat there for a while rubbing my leg until I could stand and finally limp out of the transition area to the run.

Drink more. Visualize transition.

I decided to take it especially easy on the first half of the run and didn’t pass anyone. On the way back, I picked up the pace (my perception) and started picking off competitors. The trouble is that they write the age of racers on their calves, so you know if passing them matters. It feels good to pass younger men, but that doesn’t help my goal of not being last in my division.
So the results came in and I was 46 of 59 people in my division. Goal accomplished! Ice and ibuprofen awaits.


Pick up pace a little sooner than 1/2 way through run.

Walk around and stretch.


Cramped quad.


Everything was great. People were social before the race, but no one was talking during the entire race.