This wasn't real swimming ..it was more like just make it through by any means possible. I did side stroke, breast stroke and a little free. I swallowed a lot of ocean water.
One woman in front of me freaked out and had to be helped on to a board by a fellow swimmer. There were a ton of people hanging off those things.
It was very congested and immpossible to find a swim rhythm.

Not do tri's with ocean swims...I love the ocean...just not swimming in it!

They had pools to step in when you exited the beach to rinse your feet. This was great because I never thought to bring a basin or anything. I had my sandals by the pool.

I took my time and put on socks, a shirt and my vest. Had a tought time getting my bike shoes on.

Move faster! It was cold and I would rather waste a little more time and be comfortable.

I felt a little sick to my stomach from drinking all the salt water..thank God it went away after 5 minutes or so!
I felt great on the bike and passed a lot of people. I was staying with these 2 guys and we would pass each other and catch up for the last 5 miles or so.
I did end up passing a guy on the right...I know its not allowed, but he would just stay way to the left and not move, and there was traffic in the left lane. I did say loudly "passing on your RIGHT"
I saw a few wipe outs and lots of people with flats.

My bike computer says I average 17mph...I was psyched to see that!

Nothing... did the best I could on the wet roads.

My feet were frozen...colder than at Mooseman. I put on dry socks which felt great!

nothing....just move faster...get speed laces one of these days!

I did pretty well in my least favorite part of a tri.
My feet didn't start to thaw until mile 2.5.
I tried to distract myself from negative thoughts while tons of people flew past me.

Max passed me on the run and it was just starting to rain. An official guy road by on his bike going the opposite way encouraging us by yelling "come on now people..I don't want to get wet out here, lets go!"
I see Max give him a huge squirt with his water bottle! It was hard to tell if the guy was pissed or amused.
I ran the last mile with 2 women and we chatted about kids...etc. It made the time go by quickly. Plus they were faster than me so they paced me.

Work on my overall running speed. The problem with that is I start hurting as I try to increase my speed in general. If I always stay slow I feel fine.

It was raining fairly hard now. I saw 2 people from master swim who already finished. I started packing up my stuff and saw Ellen coming in. Wearing the Mooseman jersey and hat, she was easy to spot even without my glasses on...ran over to give her a high five.
I put all my crap in my car and changed clothes in the bathhouse. Another bad thing about salt water is that you are so sticky its hard to get dry clothes on.
I hung out with Ellen, Matt, Max and Donna for the awards. I was really getting cold.
I drove home and went straight to bed to get warm...slept for an hour or so. Then I showered and went to work. We had a really busy night...of course!


The rough water, wet roads...bad weather in general.
Oh yeah...plus I need to get faster!


I can't wait to do the September sprint. I hope I can improve my times.
I would reccommend this race. They do everthing right! I just wish the weather was better...
It's so fun seeing people that I know at the races, plus it keeps me from getting nervous.