I Don't Date...I Train: Fantastic Nantasket Beach Triathlon Race Report

After waking up around 6:45 am after another great night of waking up multiple times, I arrived at the race about 7:30 and began to setup my transition area. I like this transition area better than the Pinebush since everybody had a space already marked for them. I laid out everything and talked to the other guys who were setting up around me. Like last time I had (and was he only one there who had a balloon marking where my gear was setup. This time I went with a Beer Mug...

So after setting up and saying hello to Craig, Allison, Beth, & Rebbecca who had come to watch me and take these pictures.

The Wookie in the Wetsuit.

I headed down to the beach to test the water ...which was so f'ing cold even with the wetsuit. A fact which I had to come back and report to the crew.

So I headed back down to the water where everyone was gathering for the race to start. I was talking this lady who thought she had seen me at Ironman Florida...she was also tellling me how she did this race last year and the waves were like 3 - 5 feet tall and it was almost impossible to get off the beach.

(I am in the red cap just to the right of the orange buoy and she is in the white cap)

So finally it was time to get the race underway. I was in the second heat this time so it was better than being last to get started.

The Swim
Distance: 1/4 mile

I think I was in the largest heat of the race as you can see it was crowded out there. I know going out I dove right in between two people as I went under a wave.

Like last time I got hit in the head a few times but also got some shots in myself...I know I landed a nice solid kick as I was starting. It was hard to find a good rhythm to swim and I really didn't even worry about sighting the bouys because I was trying to stick to the outside edge of the pack. There were a few times I had to switch over to breaststroke when I got behind someone and had to wait for an oppertune time to pass. Overall I really wasn't feeling the swim...I think it might have been the colld and the fact that my mouth was getting salty....yeeech!

As soon as I could touch I was alternating between pushing off the bottom till I got aboust waist deep then I stood up and started working on getting the wetsuit unzipped. After exiting the water and getting the wetsuit top off I started to head out of the water. I was still trying to find my legs as I ran up the beach and the ramp to the sea wall which is why I look like I am in pain.

Total Swim Time: 12 minutes 4 seconds
Overall 167/500
Clydesdale Division: 10/42

Transition 1
So the biggest challenge was getting the wetsuit off quickly. Luckily no one was on the left side of me so I had a bit of extra room to work with which was good. Had I known tis I would have laid out my gear differently but I made do.

Not having to put socks on saved me a lot of time. So after dressing and grabbing my other gear and a swig of Powerade Zero I was headed out of the transition area...

Total Transition 1 Time: 4 minutes 2 seconds

Coming out of the transition area was a bit crowded and the bike mount line wasn't all that well marked so I had to wait til I had room to maneuver and not fall on my ass.