The race

After a week of goofing off and tapering my workouts nicely it was time to race. The weather called for rain but the morning was dry and the lake was like glass. Smooth and really clear. I said the hell with it and lined up at the front of the swim start. There was more water polo type contact then I've ever experienced before and I was still having to guard my little piece of water all the way to the 1.2 mile mark turnaround but I could feel I was going well and when I stood up to run out of the water the clock on the beach read 59:55. I still had to run out and I clocked a 1 hour 10 second swim, so I still haven't gone under an hour for this distance. Darn!

Hopped on the bike feeling good and ready for a long day. A short climb out of town on the two lap bike course and directly into a stiff headwind. I rode ultra conservative and let many people whiz by which worked out later. As the day wore on, the weather deteriorated. The wind picked up, the rain started, and it just continued to get worse. I nailed my nutrition on the bike and after 3 steps on the run I was pretty sure it was going to be a good day. I felt bad for the Marianne, Bill, and Lil standing out in that howling wind and rain to cheer me on but they later told me they took warm up breaks in the camper after I passed. So last 5 K sign is coming up and I'm on track so I decided to let it all hang out. I picked up the pace and finished the last 5K in under 20 minutes. I felt so good I was chastising myself after that for not dropping the hammer sooner but, oh well. Final time was 9:57 and some seconds, 106 out of 1200 and 11th in my age group. I achieved my goals of going under 10 and having a good run so I was happy. The next day Marianne and I went to the rolldown for Kona slots and I just slipped in there so I have that in the bag for the rest of the year. That evening was the awards ceremony which had awesome food and great entertainment. It was the first one we had ever gone to and I think we'll make it a habit.