Woke at 5:45 am, had my Sole water and oatmeal w blueberries, walnuts, and chia seeds. Just wore my swimsuit since we weren't going to ride bikes. Parked at the BMO lot and walked over. Had plenty of time after getting checked in. Met Colleen from Oconomowoc and hung out w her--she's doing her first IM. David got in to swim at 7:45, Colleen and I hopped in at 8:05. Safety meeting at 8:15, then the 1.2 and non wetsuit 2.4 started at 8:30. Got in and tread water waiting for our 8:40 start.

Did a few stretches and just got into the water to get the cold leaks into my wetsuit (full vortex). Ate a Hammer gel right before the safety meeting 8:15 w few sips of water.

Went a little harder on the second loop but did not go all out as I wanted to see what kind of time I'd have for Moo. Tended to stay inside the buoys--that seems to work well for me. Maybe that will be how I play MOO.

Can definitely go harder. Was totally fresh when I got out, which is what I need for Moo.

Decent snacks--bagels, PB/jelly, granola bars, clementines, water, gatorade, and choc milk. Hung out to wait for awards--David took 2nd in his AG 50-55 with 59min (winner 54 min). Then walked back to BMO to drop off our gear and walked around the farmer's market a little.

Didn't want to push too hard since I can't do it for MOO. Just need to move arms faster. Would also benefit if I could learn bilateral breathing.

This was a great, well-organized, pre-IM OWS. Good taste of what's coming up in 3 weeks (except 6x more bodies). Gotta think about placement for that.