The distance was short. Differing opinions as to how much short. But it was short last year when I did this race so relative to last year I took 15 minutes off my time which was HUGE!

We waited in the water for what seemed like forever and then BLAM we were off. The washing machine effect was felt more in the chop than in the banging and bumping. Lots of water in the face while trying to breathe. Got through that just fine and stretched out.

I've taken a new attitude toward my OWS. My swim is like my drive in golf. If I try to hit it too hard the ball goes 225 straight and 75 yards to the right. If I swing easy it goes 200-250 straight. So I swam comfortable and sighted and decided that staying straight would help make up for going slower. It worked. I felt good about my navigation. Not great, yet, but good, considering this is my only OWS of the year so far. At one point I tried drafting this muscle bound dude in jammers. He swam slightly faster than me but stopped to breaststroke when sighting. I didn't like that so I swam just to the left of him and used him for sighting. I lost track of him for a minute and WHAM! The dude caught me in the right shoulder with his left heel. Hit me so hard I had to stop and recover. If I had been slightly to my right he might have caught me in the noggin' and fricking knocked me out.

So last year when I rounded the buoy for the second lap I was dying and couldn't believe I had to swim another lap. This year it was like "oh, another lap, ok". I swear I could have swam a third lap without losing any speed. Maybe that means I wasn't trying hard enough but I was comfortable and relaxed. I'll worry about going fast next week.

I will say this about the chop. First, I grew up water skiing so I deal with rough water and trying to swim in it very well. No problem there. But I work on it in the pool too. When I'm swimming I don't care what happens I try to never stop. Swallow water, splash from a kid jumping in, choke on saliva by accident, have to cough or sneeze, burp, even throw up a little bit, etc (I know, it's gross, sorry). And I'm not talking about into the pool, I don't do that! I figure this has got to help me in OWS and it does. Eventually you learn how to take care of all of these issues without stopping and it becomes second nature.

Got toward the end and instead of standing up too soon and experiencing the leg cramps in waist high water (which becomes chest high when you collapse onto your knees because you can't stand up) I pulled until I could feel sand. Then I dug my hands into the sand and pulled along the bottom until my chest rubbed. Popped up and got across the line as the cramps were just starting to hit. Worked perfectly! Now THAT'S an exit strategy.

I had asked Jen not to come because we had a big enough day planned and I wanted her and the kids to get off to a relaxed start. So of course she was there, with all three kids. Her and Holly, what couple of great tri-wives. They are the bestest.

Next year I'll treat it like a race and go faster earlier. Work more on speed work before the race. I can swim a long way at my cruising speed but I just didn't have that extra gear to get into when I got near the finish. I need to develop that. But I knew that and trained to be steady and comfortable, not necessarily fast.

Stood around talking, meeting BT'ers, giving directions, etc. etc. Great day. The sun came out and it was beautiful. Changed clothes, packed the bag and ran home with a heavier pack due the wet wetsuit and towel which made it not bounce around so much.


Lack of speed training.


I like this race. Not a lot of OWS races around and this one is almost in my backyard. What's not to like?