Notes
Well, here we go. Bash, Lynn, and I got to the race site at about 5AM and got directed to a parking spot right near the swim start. So far, so good! We went and prepped our bike transitions, and went back to the car around 7AM to wait for our wave start at 7:45AM. Lynn's start was at 7:05AM, so we didn't get a chance to see her off. For Bash's 30th birthday, the organizers allowed him to start in my wave. Chris joined us in the car as his wave didn't start until 7:40AM. The air temperature was in the upper 50's, no humidity, and hardly any wind. This was going to be a perfect day to test our limits. We were suited up in our wetsuits by 7:30AM when we went to test the waters and do our warmup swim. Man, the water was absolutely perfect. It felt so good that I even took my first wetsuit piss. Ahhhhh. Chris took off in his wave at 7:40AM, and Bash and I moved to the swim start, but not before being mugged by the Boo-Yah crew: Fil, Amanda, Luis, Pamela, Johan, and Linda! It was awesome seeing familiar faces right before the start. The hugs and kisses didn't hurt either. Our wave went off as scheduled and there was the usual mad dash to the front. Bash and I positioned ourselves about 3 to 4 rows from the front right. The swim start at Timberman is relatively shallow for about the first 25 yards, so it's a running dash before people start free styling. Bash did his best Phelps impersonation and took off with his dolphin dives. I settled right away into the freestyle stroke, and felt completely calm and relaxed. It was eerie, but I can definitely attribute it to the 10 weeks of Try the Tri swim racing that kept me calm and cool. This feeling would stay with me for the entire swim. I had no issue sighting the really large buoys, and spent some time drafting behind others whenever I could. I didn't rely on my kick at all until the last quarter mile. I know I could have done this swim a lot faster, but was very cautiously optimistic throughout the swim, since I've never raced this swim distance before. Water was calm, with only a few waves after the first right hand turn. I hardly made any contact with any of the other swimmers, but did get a good bump on the noggin near the end. Overall it was a fantastic swim. and ironically, my weakest skill ended up being the most enjoyable aspect of this 70.3 for me. I was tad bit disappointed with my swim time as I was expecting to be in the 30's, but not bad. Not bad at all. I freestyled all the way to the swim finish, beaching myself as close as possible to the shore before starting my transition run into T1. Ran straight into the arms of the strippers (wetsuit strippers), and they removed my suit in about half a second. Unfortunately, my timing chip went with my wetsuit. I didn't realize this until I was out on the bike. Speaking of the bike...