We were swimming into some pretty good swells, maybe 3'-5'. I was in the middle of the pack. As we were getting close to the first buoy most of the swimmers in front of me had checked up and started doing breast stroke, so I had to slow up too. There was a guy about twenty yards back and to my right who had stopped swimming and was calling for help. He wasn't able to raise his arms to wave and the guards in the kayaks were pointing the other way. I started swimming towards him while waving and yelling at the guards. Got one kayak's attention and we got to the guy about the same time. I don't think the kayak guy was an actual lifeguard and seemed nervous about getting tipped over. I was just hanging around treading water while the guy held on to the end of the kayak. Within a couple of minutes a county beach lifeguard showed up on a jet ski and hauled the guy aboard to take him back to the beach.
By this time my wave was long gone, and since we were the very last wave, that made me the last swimmer in the water by a long stretch. Rather than press on I decided to just abandon the race. Didn't help that I got a couple big mouthfulls of water while I was treading water in the swells. Told the lifeguard I was dropping out and swam back the 100yds or so to shore, then casually walked back to T1.

I don't know. Couldn't not stop if I knew the guy was in trouble and the lifeguards hadn't seen him.
I've been second-guessing myself whether I should have pressed on even though I was so far behind. I guess with the delay and the rough water conditions I just decided it wasn't worth it. But it was the first race I've ever DNF'd, so that has been bothering me a lot ever since.

Told the first race official I saw in T1 that I hadn't finished the swim course and turned in my chip. She came back in a couple of minutes with another official and they told me that it was OK if I wanted to finish the bike and run as an unofficial competitor, with no finishing time. Didn't want to at first, but they talked me into it. Hopped on the bike and took off.

Don't know. Definitely unusual circumstances.

Had a good ride. Fastest I've ever done the Siesta Key course in a race. (Of course I had about a ten minute break in T1 while talking to the officials and trying to decide if I was going to continue, so have to factor that "rest" period into my results.)
Since I was "unofficial" I tried to stay out of the way of the other competitors and let up a bit whenever I got passed so they could get by cleanly. I got passed by a lot of the Oly competitors doing their second lap, but pretty much was able to hold my own against the others doing the sprint distance race. Got out of the saddle and sprinted hard to get back up to speed after the tight turn-around on the south end of the course. Felt really good at that point.
Had a little adventure going through the interection at Stickney Pt Rd. the second time. The cops were holding traffic, but some women ignored them and pulled out right in front of two girls about fifteen yards in front of me. They hit the brakes and I could see air under their back tires. Luckily they didn't go over their bars. I was able to dodge behind the car and up onto the sidewalk to get around. Could hear the driver of the car arguing with the cop that she couldn't wait because she was running late to a breakfast event...
Thought I nailed the semi-technical section from the canal bridge through the tight turns back onto Beach Rd; hit the apexes just right.
My left Achilles started to get a little sore about 2/3 of the way. Not incapacitating, just sore.
Had to slow down a bit for traffic in the last 1-2 miles through the Siesta Village area. Thought some old coot in a huge Mercury was going to run me into the curb at one point just before the finish.

Not much. Thought I had a good ride, especially considering the limited amount of time I've had on the bike since the first of the year. Just need to get in better shape so I can push a bigger gear next time.

Since the run was on soft sand and my Achilles was getting sore, I decided to not run and risk getting hurt. Racked my bike and headed over to the finish line area to get something to drink.

Skipped the run.

Under the circumstance I think I made the right call. Especially when I saw all the runners at the finish line who had taken their shoes off and were carrying them because of the difficulty running on the beach.

Got something to eat and drink and then sat off by myself for a while. Pretty down and depressed.
The official from T1 who convinced me to get on the bike made a point to thank me for helping the guy during the swim. Said that karma owed me one.



Because this was my first race since hurting my Achilles last year, I figured I was only at about 80-85% fitness level, but was still looking forward to it as a "C" race. Still on my schedule for the year, but really bummed out over how the day turned out. Never DNF'd a race before, so that bothers me a lot.


Well-run race. Too bad about all the controversy with the beach run.
Selfishly I wish it had gone differently for me, but I guess that's the way it goes sometimes. Bummed out, but I'll get over it eventually.