Once we were finally able to start, the "2 mile race", now shortened to 1 mile, waded out a few yards from shore. The whistle blew, and off we all went.

This race reminded me of last year's Pittsford Tri wherein I blew up about 100 yards in. Going out towards the 1/4 mile turnaround, I was having a very hard time getting my HR and breathing in check. I normally breath every third stroke, but I was forced to breath every other stroke. I also swam some breast stroke, which I don't normally do or do well.

One observation that I made is that I use the Sun quite a bit to help me navigate in OW. With no sun shinning today, I was much wilder in my swim line. I termed it "Army Swimming". Left, Right, Left, Right. I'm really surprised at how hard of a time that I had swimming straight. Its rarely been a problem for me before. But it was today.

I finally made it out to the turnaround buoy and came back in. I still having a very hard time maintaining my normal 3-stroke breathing. It was much more 2 stroke.

Back at the start, it was time to turn around and go out and back again. It was very shallow and it was nice to wade/push off the bottom to help control my breathing some.

The second lap was better than the first. I did settle down some. I was able to do my normal 3stroke breathing for most of it. But I still was struggling. I wanted to pick up my tempo and make some time, particularly in the last 1/4, coming home. But I was tired and laboring and it just wasnt happening today. I did pass a couple of people near the end, but it was a dissappointing effort for me.

There were a lot of things that I could have done pre-race that would have likely helped things. Yesterday, we had the company picnic in the afternoon in which I had more than one beer and was standing for most of it. Last night, we had a golf scotch where I again had more than one beer and walked the course. We also didnt get home until about 10:30 and I still had to pack up for tomorrow, including getting ready to go bike riding with Dexter. I didnt get into bed until 11:30. Up at 6:15, to go stand around for a couple hours, pre-race, and you don't have a recipe for great race performance.

This was a "C" race for me and it showed in my performance. I'm dissappointed with my results, but I'm happy with the experience. Despite failing to meet my 28 minute expectations, it was good to experience a race of this distance. It was also interesting to learn about my navigation problems without the help of the sun. It was also very good practice, while in race conditions, trying to get my breath under control. I'm sure that I will need that experience later in my triathlon life.

I was pretty well spent after the mile. I would have really struggled to complete a 25 mile bike and 10K run afterwards. I've got a lot of work to do before September 10th.


The race organizers, all volunteers, made the most of a tough situation. The weather played havoc with the timing and the organizers did a pretty good job getting things in. They performed well under difficult circumstances.