Apparently they announced they shortened the swim course a bit, but not by much. It was brutal. 3 foot swells, choppy, and directly in your face the entire time. It wasn't until the last 100 yards that it started to work with you. I started in the middle, which not too sure I'll do that again. 5 minutes in, I get kicked directly in the head hard, and goggles go flying. SHIT!!!! I stopped for at least 45 seconds to minute to get myself together. Not sure what to do. Obviously nothing. Just keep going and keep the head above water the rest of the way. kept getting splashed in the eyes. It was just not a good swim for me and definitly took a lot out of me with the conditions. 304 out of 474 on the swim. Damn awful. I guess I am complaining, as I never expected conditions to be like that

Def more swim time. I haven;t focused on that nearly enough.

Here is where my day got interesting. Back to the zipper stuck in my shirt at the start. As I am exiting the water, I start to unzip and I can't. It's just about stuck all the way at the top. I am almost irritated at this point. I enter transition, squirming like a fish out of water trying to get it undone. After what seemed like 5 minutes, I finally get it undone. Stripped down, socks, shoes etc on, and I am off.

Have someone else zip up my wetsuit before I get in the water. I was able to fix the zipper when I got home. Just needed to put it back on track.

Course started with a short steep hill out of transition. I was pretty irritated after the wetsuit issue, and motivated enough that I sprinted to the top of the hill as soon as I clipped in, picking off at least 7 people. HR + 180. Ooooops. Having family and friends cheer you on near transition was a huge motivator. I settled in tried to get the HR down a bit, but it stayed in the 160's throughout the bike. It's a sprint, no big deal. As you get to the top of that short start, I see Kelly and Shaun for the first time, and gave them a shout out. They were directing bikes etc. Thanks for volunteering Kelly and Shaun. There was a good size hill in the middle of the course, but again, nothing too bad. Some roads were newly paved which made them very fast! I was glad to continue picking off more people on the bike, and even a few women that passed me on the swim (they started 4 minutes after me on the swim, GO LADIES!!!) I felt I had a good bike today and course was not as dangerous as most thought it would be with the rain. 88th out of 474 on the bike. Happy with that, for now!!

Just more volume to pick up speed.

Prior to entering transition was a little slick. You dismount at the top of the hill, and then run down before entering transition. At this point, it was pouring pretty hard. Dismount went great, and was able to rack quickly, slip on shoes and off.

Nothing, thought it went well.

I had no issues with legs coming off the bike. They felt good. Not great, but good. Slightly heavy, but no indication of any cramping/tightness, which is a good thing. Held pretty much the same pace for the first 1.5 miles. As soon as I made the turn around, I picked it up a bit. Picked off quite a few on the run, got passed by a handful, but that was about it. at about 2.7 miles, you enter into a gravel parking lot, and then enter a winding singletrack, gravel path for probably 200-300 yards, running by beach houses, and surrounded by bushes etc. it was def cool. You exit that onto the beach and finish strong. It was cool to see the finish, and hear your name announced.

Maybe more speed work, but for now, happy with the run. 76th out of 474 ont the run.

Someone handed me a popsicle, which was well received. Chatted with family. Thank you family and friends for coming. Your support was awesome, and more than appreciated. I hung around for a bit, watched a few finish. It was raining so hard at this point, I just wanted to get out of there. Walking back to the car, I was able to stop for a while and talk to Shaun and Kelly. Finally great to meet with you both. Kelly is trying to talk me into an Olympic in two weeks. We'll see. I just don't think my swim is there yet. No concern on the bike or run, but my swimming is just not good.

As I arrived home, family and friends surprised me with a small party and already stopped to have some pictures posted in the house. Very cool and so appreciate everything they did for me today!!


Swimming. that's all I need to say. SWIMMING!!!


Niantic bay is a popular race. I can see why. Great location, well organized, etc. i am def doing it again. I am going to start praying now for better water conditions. Hopefully by this time next year, I won;t have to worry so much about the swim.