I wouldn't call this swimming so much as panicking in the water. I hadn't done any open water swims before the race (all pool training) and that's because I'm terrified of swimming in our "river" -- it's really a lagoon and is a Bull Shark nursery. Bull sharks and me don't mix. I knew the only thing that would truly get me into that water was the actual RACE, and I was right. I DID get in the water and I DID finish the swim and I hated every single minute of it. There was absolutely NO visibility (you can't even see your own hand in front of you), and that terrified me beyond belief. And because of my fear of being alone in the water I started towards the back, but in the center of the pack. The entire way out to the buoy I was taking kicks and punches to the face and body and was not in any sort of groove. As I rounded the bouy things cleared up significantly, however, and I was actually swimming just as I would in the pool at that point. I did manage to actually pass the slow men from the men's wave that was three minutes ahead of me so there is something to say for sheer panic. I wanted out of that water, and I wanted out as fast as possible.

Not yet sure how I'm going to get over this phobia. The obvious is to practice in open water, but I can't honestly say that anything other than an actual race will entice me to get into that water again.

I'm going to rate this a good swim for me because despite the terror, I DID IT, plus I swam faster than the 6 other women in my age group.

I realized I had caught up with my husband at this point and we spent much of this time in transition taking photos and trash-talking. No, it wasn't fast but it was FUN! We decided to do the rest of the race together.

In the future I will probably cut out the horseplay and get right down to business. Maybe. But I'm not making any promises.

We had fun, but we didn't go fast. Neither of us have road bikes (I have a hybrid and he had a mountain) so we knew we weren't going to compete with all the fancy folks in aero anyway. I was never out of breath at all on this ride, which means I wasn't pushing hard, but I was letting my husband set the pace up front. I was paranoid about getting some sort of drafting penalty so I stayed well back and I had to coast several times to stay the right distance off his rear. We even slowed to check out manatees under one of the bridges. I really, really, really had fun on this ride. We thanked EVERY group of volunteers we passed and we cheered on all the racers who passed us (mostly the Olympic racers on their second loop). I didn't think I was going to enjoy the biking segment at all, but I really did.

For this race? Nothing. We will probabaly not stick together for the next race and I'll push myself much harder. Maybe. But I'm not promising anything because honestly I had so much fun doing this race with my hubby.

Seeing as neither of us have to unclip or change shoes or anything I can't imagine why we were SO slow. Too much laughing and high-fiving, probably. :)

Nothing for this race. For the next race I'll focus more. Maybe.

Well, I had dumped a bunch of ice in my tri-suit during transition, which I thought was very clever... except it all worked its way down to my crotch, which, uh, was kinda cold (and looked ODD no doubt!). Running with ice in your crotch is quite an... experience. I also put ice under my hat which was GREAT. Heat is always my biggest limiting factor during a run. I carried a smallish cold water bottle with me, too, and kept pouring water on the back of my neck. We walked alot on this run because my husband was suffering, but I didn't mind much because I was having mega amounts of fun. I knew this was IT, the race was almost over, and I sort of didn't want it to end because of all the time I had put into training and planning for this one event! We stopped several times and took photos of each other, and together, and with friends, so all in all I was surprised our time wasn't closer to an hour!

Nothing. It was a blast. I can always run faster during training runs. :)

Lots more photos, some cold water, and lots of congratulations to our whole bunch of first-timers. We did it! On the way home we picked up sushi to-go and ate that along with some nice, cold beer when we got home. Ahhhh, is there anything better than a cool SHOWER? I think not.


Inexperience and a goofy personality.


Can't wait to do this one again next year!