You will notice some of my time is missing. One of the mats must not have picked up my sensor so therefore, no time.
The day started at 4:00am after a not very restful night. I never sleep very well before big races and I was actually awake at 3am. We got to transition at 5:10 and I got setup and ready to race. The actual swim start was a point to point swim so we had to walk a mile down the beach. I was in the 4th wave and following the national anthem the cannon went off and so were we. It was a beach start and the beach here goes on what seems like forever. Swimming is always faster than running through the water so you want to get swimming as soon as possible however, we had to run for 50 to 100 yards before we could start. The swim was a little rough, the wind had kicked up the wave a bit and it was choppy. At about the 1/2mile mark I remember riding the waves and figuring out to breath when you are at the crest of a wave and not a trough. Breathing in a trough = sucking water. Two things of note on the swim: 1) I swam up on someone doing the breast stroke and as I turned his way to breath he kicked me square in the stomach/ribs knocking the wind out of me. 2) First, swimming etiquette is that rarely do swimmers actually "swim over" each other. No one really wants to get tangled up with a fellow swimmer, it just happens and when it does (in my limited experience) you both try your best to spread out if possible. With that said, there was a faster swimmer in a wave swim up on me and he literally climbed over the top of me, multiple strokes up my back and side, he didn't care nor did he break pace so... it really made me mad so my next stroke on his side was with a very closed fist punching him somewhere as hard as I could. I am not an angry swimmer but that really made me mad. My swim was fast and right as I had planned. The run up the beach to transition was probably 150 to 200 yards.
The bike was as planned however the roads were horrible. They were filled with pot holes and poorly patched pot holes. At one point a rider asked if we were riding on cobblestones. There were water bottles everywhere that were knocked out of riders cages when they hit bad spots ont he roads. I'm not complaining, ashpalt roads in Wisonconsin and all of the salt etc.. has to be tough for crews to stay on top of.
The run was hot and humid. The high today was 95-96 degrees with over 75% humidity. My run was slow and I understimated the heat and its effects. I was glad to finish the 1/2 marathon. I was very glad to see the finish.
When the race was over, I immediately walked down to Lake Michigan and cooled off. Got something to eat and called it a day.
The race was a success. I hit all of my numbers except the run but I chalk some of that up to conditions.
Great day, resting now and driving home tomorrow.
Tracy
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