Great group of folks in the wave. Laughing, joking, having a great time. Lined up inside front. Timer went off. Two big guys and 1 tall thin guy SPRINTED out ahead. I ran at medium speed in behind them (this is the FIRST time I have ever run at the start...all the other starts I have walked out to deeper water to avoid fatigue later in the swim). It was also the first time I've ever drafted. Swam right in behind one of the big guys and felt like I wasn't even swimming, almost like I should pass him. Held back behind for about 50 yards. Realized as I sighted, that the guy was going off course, so I swam toward the left and lost the draft advantage. Now this was real life. Big guy (who went off course) realized he was off, and was swimming to catch me. He was a strong swimmer, so it didn't take him long. Had a little trouble breathing at 300 yds, so did the usual 'put your big head back into the water and breathe out all that CO2 and you'll be fine--don't hyperventilate!' Seemed to work. Rounded the turnaround with no problem. At about 450 yards got passed by a few yellow caps (female sprint relay). Come to find out these gals were swimming about 1:34/100 yds. Saw the beach and swam fast. Stood up, looked around and saw no-one near me. That means the #5 guy wasn't even close, which is a foreign situation for me! Found out he came in 2 minutes behind me...weird...looked to the left and saw swimmers coming in...first thought was 'Aauuughhh, I swam too far inside, I am SO DQ'ed.' Even turned around to start swimming back to the last buoy, but finally realized that the people on the left were Olympic participants still coming in...weird...so I high-tailed it out of the water as fast as I could, ran up the beach and almost sprinted through the transition area. Hit my split button and didn't catch the split. Checked it again and it said '29'...my heart sunk, that time is worse than last year (20). Little did I know that that meant 29 seconds into the next split. I continued to sprint. Took the chip off my ankle and wrapped it around Steve's ankle. Lou asked how I did, and I told him 'not as good as I thought.' Stopped my watch, went into recall mode and checked lap 1. About fell over when I saw 13 minutes...rolled through the recall again and saw 13...finally a smile on my face...no wonder I was out of breath...:)

Learn to better capitalize on drafting off big guys. Considering my swim time was 20 min last year, I'll take this year's 13:02, wetsuit advantage or not...

No rush in transition. Was a welcome rest...

Steve on the bike leg. Pretty amazing. It was only his 3rd time on the bike this season. He's a strong rider...

Sam ROCKED this run (and clinched the win for us). He runs for Mankato State (son of Steve's co-worker). Ran freakin' 6:10 miles!!!

Just hung out and talked to people. Cheered Sam and Scotty in...


Still a few pacing issues. Losing breath at 300 yds...


I would do this race every year if it wasn't for the entry fee. Thanks to Steve and Waste Management for sponsoring the relay teams. Great experience for building confidence in the swim. Turtleman, here we come...keep your fingers crossed for wetsuit temps...he, he...I'll be practicing long OWSs SANS wetsuit the next few weeks...:)