This went worse than I thought. The deep water start was no problem; waves were nice and small. And at first, things were fine. Then I got to a shaded area and the water was black and I freaked out. I kept swallowing water and trying to force my head down into position and I couldn't do it. I actually stopped and tread water for a few seconds and tried again and still couldn't. I swam with my head up for a little bit, but it was too tiring. It finally occurred to me to breast stroke, so I did until I was back in sunlight, then I was fine. Weeds were no problem, passing/being passed was no problem.

Practice OWS way more.

Transition was no problem. I opted not to rinse my feet, which was probably a mistake but didn't cost me in this race. Fast laces in my cycling shoes was a real bonus.

Rinse my feet.

I pushed it because it felt good. Not straining horribly, but definitely a step up from normal. There was one bad road, but most were nearly perfect dry pavement.

Nothing. I probably could have pushed harder, but I'm not sorry I didn't.

I nearly forgot my race belt, but remembered in time.

Nothing.

At about halfway, I had a momentary worry because I got goosebumps, but I looked at my arms and I was still sweating, so I figured I must be fine. I was shocked to PR! My fastest 5k prior (training, not race) was 28:52.

Nothing.

Walked, drank water, stretched a little.


Lack of familiarity with OWS; it's possible having my heart rate monitor or at least a watch may have helped, but I've done my best without them.


Excellent race; well-run, well-organized, plenty of volunteers, logical set-up, easy access. Beyond closing the roads, I can't imagine what they could have done better.