Ti 2 Y

I'm just morally opposed to wetsuits. I find it somewhat hypocritcal for USAT to allow wetsuits but ban drafting in the bike leg. As for the race report. The water temperature this morning was a balmy 61 degrees (those familiar with Santa Cruz will recognize that that is about as warm as it ever gets). The swim course was the standard 'around the pier' that everyone loves. It's almost exactly a mile, and for the right-side breathers it's nice because you don' t have to look forward to sight. My swim time was my fastest open water mile yet, though I'm not sure exactly what my time was (somewhere between 28 and 30, not counting the 200 yard run to the transition area). The transition went well and I set out for my strongest leg. I managed an average speed of 34.1 KPH, for a time of 1:09. The bike course is beautiful, and fast. The transition to the run turned out to be a bit rough. I took my gloves off after the last corner, and undid the velcro on my bike shoes, but when I tried to step out of my shoes, they came off too, so I was forced to take them off after I dismounted. And then, as soon as I started into T2, my right leg cramped up a bit. And then after I swapped my shoes, and ran out, my leg cramped up again and I had to stop and stretch. And then, of course, my left leg cramped up a few hundred yards further. Fortunately, this pattern didn't continue and I was able to suffer through the run in peace. Given that I haven't run more than 4 miles in one go in well over 10 years, I was happy with the run (I still don't know exactly what the split was, but it was pathetic). My final time was 2:46:50, which I am happy with for now. So anyway, the race was very fun, and I will certainly do this one again, and maybe some others as well. I need to suffer more, so I will probably go for a half-Ironman distance next. ;)

You may find the swim would be much faster and easier if you did wear a wet suit and you will not feel the cold it may be false economy not towear it because it takes time to get it off..

sounds great! I am also opposed to wetsuits. I did a 1/2IM last year you might like to try-superfrog in San Diego. I stand out in all the pix because I'm in a yellow tri singlet and everyone else is in a black wetsuit. Anyway the run is on the sand so no one gets to go all that fast-think about it for next year!

I'm mainly stoked that I finished only 49 minutes behind the winner. Considering that 25 minutes of that was the run, I did well. Now I just need to run more, get my freestyle stroke down better, and get a time-trial bike; and I'll be able to be competitive. :)

Now that the results are in, I can give a little more feedback. Apparently I am much better on the bike than in the swim. My bike rank was 176th, and my swim rank was 531st (this is without a westuit, you must remember). I'm also pleased to report that I tied Pedro Ordones in the overall standings. For those who don't live in the area, Mr. Ordones is a legend in the local swimming community, having swum from Alcatraz well over 300 times. He's also a really fast runner! I hope I'm still kicking like that when I'm 59! Back to training. I need to work on my open water stroke, and work on the run. The bike will sort itself out...