Oceanside - The Swim

32:36. This was an exciting way to start my quest, a personal best. For those of you that don't know me my swim has always been a struggle. Over the winter and the past few years I have worked hard bringing my average swim time from 40 min to today's time, whew! As stated before I was the very last wave to go at 7:48 am. I prepared myself for freezing cold temperatures but to my surprise the water temperature was very comfortable. Sunny and friends wished me luck for the final time as I plunged into the water. The horn blew and off we went. I started of to the left with hopes of not being run over by excited or faster swimmers. Success! No contact and a great smooth start. This was the best swim I have ever had in a half Ironman swim. I was in complete control for the first time in 6 years. I didn't break stride, not once. When I approached other slower swimmers from previous waves I simply guided myself around them with confidence and ease. Now don't get me wrong, my swim is a far cry from "speedy" - (how do the pro's swim it in 23 minutes? I need a good pair of fins and and oxygen tank to do that) Off to the T1.....

Tri and Give a Dam take one - Oceanside California

5 am..... Saturday March 27th..... this is the moment my planning, hard work and desire to change other peoples lives came to a head. I rose with mixture of feelings. Excitement, anxiousness, nervousness and the sense of the start of something good. I slept really well considering the feelings and emotions that should have kept me up. The night before I carefully prepared my Tri bag so that I could get the maximum amount of sleep and not have to think about things in the morning. I made a bowl of Rokit Fuel and downed it. Our condo was perfectly selected as it was only 1/4 mile from the race site. So with my traveling companions (Sunny and the Winns) fast asleep I grabbed my bag, jumped on my bike and rolled down the road to T1. The male 30-34 division is the largest and fairly competitive, so we are the last wave to go off. Initially I was disappointed to find I was last to leave T1 but after today I am a fan of going last. One of the perks was the fact I got to see the pro field take off, swim and transition. How do they swim sub 23 min... simply amazing. As my wave time approached I finalized my transition area and took in my final nutrition for the morning. With 5 min before my race it was time for 2 DUB shots

She's heard of me... what???

After the morning ride to make sure my Ellsworth prototype was rolling the way I wanted it to, my coach instructed me to relax the rest of the day. Check! Strolled down to the beach and did just that - relaxed. It was nice. Sandy beach, the bright sun and ZERO clouds. Sunny and I decided to take one last stroll down the pier and take a final look through the expo. There we found Michellie Jones - Kona World Champion and well known bad ass in the triathlon world. We started talking and it turns out she had heard of me and my little project. She thinks I'm crazy - ha ha... maybe she's right? But she thinks that it's a cool project and wished me luck. Time to put the final touches on my preparation..... ohhhh yaaaaa here we go.

The quest has begun.

It's go time! No more masters swim workouts, no more spin classes and seemingly endless indoor training rides, and certainly no more 3 hour treadmill runs. I'm in California for the first of 20, 70.3 races in 2010 and it's perfect. Woke up this morning to a beautiful ocean view and what's that...aaahhhh yaaaaa, no crying children. Thanks a million mom and dad. Today is race day registration and I am pumped to get down there, mix and mingle and see all what Oceanside has to offer. Mixed emotions of excitement, nervousness and the feeling of the "unknown". .. What is my body going to do? Have I done enough? I did notice that I am the very LAST wave to head out on Saturday... don't they know I'm slow.... now I have some pressure! With 1500 athletes in front of me, I'll have to get on my horse and ride - can't very well finish last in my first race. I am off to get in my last 30 min ride, then check in....
James
And athlete with a purpose....