The men's race went off right at 9am, so Katrina and I went to get with our wave, which I thought they said would be 5 minutes later. Turns out that we were in the same wave as about 18 pre-teen age group club swimmers from Mission Viejo. Total cuties, but definitely made me feel like an old chick! ;)

I got my watch ready to time the race, and saw that we had two minutes (or so I thought) until our start time when they yelled "ten seconds ladies." In a "holy sh*t" moment I got my goggles on fast as the horn went off. I didn't have time to worry about where to be in the group, because the group, and I, were running toward the water. Well...I was actually slowing jogging, so as not to get winded like I had in warm up.

I ran out until water was at my upper legs and dove in. I then realized I was behind a line of the little girls. Great. Struggled to find a piece of water for myself. Passed many of them along the way...although judging by the final results, they found their way right back around me eventually! By the time I got a little space, there was the first orange buoy! Hooray! I rounded it and looked for the white buoy. It was freaking far!

At this point we were swimming parallel to the beach, heading east away from the Belmont Pier. I was a little nervous about the whole open water thing, but there were quite a few people around which helped. For a while I was just following the line of girls, until I looked up and realized they were veering WAY too far left. I started to correct to the right, but that put me more alone in the water. Yikes...not cool. Luckily the super fast aquathon guys were rapidly approaching and seemed to have better sighting skills than the girls, so I started following them. At some point my breathing was a little rapid, so I did about 15 seconds of breastroke just to catch my breath. Also, this was the part where the swells, although small, were most obvious. I haven't really done a swim like this in swells, so it was good practice.

The swim to the white buoy seemed to take a LONG time, but I got there. However, right before I got there a guy and I totally ran into each other. I stopped a second to say I was sorry, then thought...what the hell am I doing??? I'm racing here...this is expected...quit with the manners and get moving!

I thought the next white buoy was straight out to sea, but it was out and off to the left. Crap. It was a lot farther then it had looked on land. Oh well, just kept going. I did start to feel a little nervous at one point knowing I was swimming out deeper and deeper, but I calmed myself down and got over it.

About halfway to that buoy I realized that I was about half way done. This was a huge boost to my confidence. I had done half easily, I could do the rest, no problem. That was a great feeling.

I finally rounded the next white buoy and was now heading parallel to the beach again, but toward the pier. The girls were off ahead of me...I couldn't see where. At one point I flipped on my back for a second to see that there were a lot of orange caps (my wave) way behind me. That was cool. I was nowhere near last, and I liked that feeling. At this point several of the men and women from the wave after me were catching me, I started keeping pace with them which was good.

The swells weren't too bad on this leg, because I breathe primarily to the right, so I wasn't breathing into them as I had on the way out. At this point I was in that zone. I love that zone. That point where everything clicks and you feel like you could go forever. I was probably two thirds of the way done, feeling strong, and forgetting about the things that may swim below.

At the orange buoy, I made a right and was now heading back to shore. That was a great feeling. I picked up my pace, but it was too soon to sprint. The pier was just to my left, and several aquathoners were to my right. Didn't see any other orange caps around me at this point. I looked toward the shore and saw the finish chute. Somewhere between here and the last buoy I started veering off toward the pier. Oops. This time, can't blame the preteen girls...they were already back on the beach enjoying their energy bars! :) My bad! I corrected back toward the aquathon guys and just kept with them.

As we passed the last orange buoy, I knew we were close, so I began sprinting. In a tri I couldn't do this, but I have nothing else to save energy for, so I might as well go balls-out! It finally happened, my left hand hit sand...what a glorious feeling! I stood up, popped the goggles up and began my slow, and suprisingly not too dizzy jog up the beach.

I saw my husband smiling and taking pictures. I saw my kids playing in the sand, then looking up and cheering! No one else in an orange cap was near me, so no reason to run too fast. I passed over the timing thing and was so happy and relieved. I had done it! I was afraid I couldn't, but I had.

A volunteer took my timing chip off and I looked back at the water. There were a lot of orange caps still swimming! Woo hoo! I was nowhere near last! That felt even better than finishing. I began walking around in a goofy, winded, tired, but excited, confused state trying to figure out how to get around the transition area and 5K area to my family. I finally figured it out. I then realized I hadn't stopped my stopwatch. It was still going. Oops! Hope that timing chip worked!

It took a while, but I found my way back over to my smiling, happy family. I was going to dry off, but I was freaking HOT! I saw several swimmers coming out including Katrina! Woo hoo! Yay Katrina!

I think that a tri wetsuit would help my time, so I plan to have one by September. I would also not blindly follow others without losing sight of the buoys. Otherwise, I think for my first OW race I did a pretty good job!

I was still burning up, so I grabbed sunglasses, my bottle of Endurox, and went in the water. It felt SOOOOO good to just sit and chill in the ocean. It was funny because the 5K swimmers were getting in to warm up and all complaining how cold it was! I was basking in the cold-wonderfulness of the water. I stayed there a while. In retrospect, I should have swam a little to warm-down, but the thought honestly didn't occur to me. I was just pleasantly drifting and listening to the nervous chatter of the 5Kers. They were trying to figure out the course, so I was explaining how ours was.


No wetsuit and lack of OW experience.


This was the innaugural race and my first race, so who knows if it was put on well. It sure seemed to be! It is the kick off event for Long Beach's Sea Festival. After the 5K there was supposed to be a kayak race, a paddle board race, and a canine splash and dash. There was also a pier daze festival, which we didn't stay for.

Since results for our race weren't posted yet, my husband, kids and I headed over to Chuck's for breakfast, but there was a HUGE wait. Same deal at Shorehouse, so we headed to Hof's Hut. I was giddy with the perma-grin and rapid talk. My husband was cracking up at my sheer goofyness. We ate breakfast and it was the best biscuits and gravy I ever had!

After breakfast my husband dropped me back off at the race venue. I went to the results booth and was STOKED! I took first place in my age group! Woo hoo! (Of course...do I have to admit that there only five of us? Nah...I didn't think so!) ;) My time was 25.57. I didn't realize until my husband pointed out that my daughter's birthday is 2/5 and my son's is 5/7! And my race number was 57! How random is that???

I came in 22 out of 33 overall in the women's race. That includes the age group girls. If you count only the females old enough to buy beer, then I was 4th out of 17, which isn't too shabby for my first race. So, I proudly wore my medal...in fact...I may never take it off! :)