Honolulu Triathlon (Swim)

 What a an excellent morning for a swim.  I guess 1300 other people felt the same way.   The excitement of getting ready to swim in a big group is hard to put in word but I'm going to try.

Wave 1 Starts.

Because the groups are so big the starts are in waves.

6AM Wave 1 Male 34 and under

6:03 Wave 2 Male 34 to 39

6:06 Wave 3 Female 39 and Under

6:09 Wave 4 Male 40 to 49  (My Wave)

6:12 Wave 5 Female 40 and Over

6:18 Wave 6 Male 50 and Over.



Wave 4 (My Wave) Preparing to Start

As each wave goes the other wave get into the chute and prepares to go. Last race I started in the back, not knowing better and ended up climbing over people and getting kicked.  I was not going to make this mistake again.  I was standing right at the edge of the entry so I could make my way up to the front as my wave was called.  I ended up about 4 deep from the front which was a good position. The race director was getting everyone fired up by repeatedly yelling "Are you ready" Swimmers would reply  " Yes" "HI" "Let do it"  Race director "20 seconds are you ready"  Screams from everyone including the crowd. Race director "5 Second are you ready"  Total uproar.   Race Director  " Go"  for my wave this 78 people entered the water with splash.   I had a good entry had to dolphin 2 times to get into good water.  It was the same as before a crazy jam of bodies all trying all to get ahead, but this time it was different  I had a plan.  I pop my head up and looked for a fast swimmer in the clear and gave it everything I had to catch him.  I followed his bubbles keeping right on his feet for a good 500 meters then as he started to slow I look for another swimmer and did the same until the turn around.  I started seeing swimmer left over from the previous wave bobbing in the water some gasping for air because they tired and others with the rescue boards helping them.  I felt for them but knew they were in good hands. About 200 meters after the turn I started noticing people running into the next wave of people head on.  I thought, oh great that's a good way to get knocked out.  At this point I took a good tall look at the course and change my angle to make sure I stayed well clear of the oncoming swimmers.  I was hunting and drafting from person to person and having a blast.  This was an excellent swim and I was totally enjoying it.  Goggle not fogging, everything flowing, Legs felt great.  As we neared the finish of the swim the field started to narrow and it started to get crowded again. We started to run into the slow swimmer from the previous waves and this really made it tight.  I had a number of times when there were swimmer on both sides of me and there was contact every stroke.  I was even pushing them away from me on every stroke.   I was starting to get crowded in and it was pissing me off.  Then a trick my Tri Bro Matt showed me came to mind. Roll over the back feet of the one crowding you and dig really hard. They will look to see what heck just happened and you will be long gone.  It worked and worked great. I think I started having fun with it because I tryed it 4 more times before the swim finished.  Not good for swim times but entertaining.

 I'm in the back trying to get the darn swim cap off.

I  found out later it was my best swim time ever. 29:30 

My best on record for a 1500 meter was 33.10. I guess all the drafting an roll over's did pay off.

So it's up the beach and into T1. In the sea of bike it's really easy to run down the wrong lane. I was aware of this and precounted the lanes before the race started.
So here I'm talking to myself.  " Lane 1 ok, Lane 2 ok, Lane 3, Lane 4 and ok here we go lane 5, Was it turn on lane 5 or after lane 5 Crap I don't remember."  It was before and not after so I needed to do a little (s) turn about 1/2 way down the lane because there was a tree in the way.
In the past I have always put my bike shoes on during the transition and then ran to the mount area then road away clicking in my shoes as fast as possible. With my new tri shoes that have only one strap I'm leaving them on the peddles and strapping them as I ride. So here we go from the start.  Run into T1 drop the goggles and the carrot colored swim cap on my mat in the specified place. On with the glasses, On with the helmet, unrack the bike gently so you don't dump the 5 other bikes on the same rack,  Run for your life to the mounting area. At the mounting area I witnessed a 4 bike pile up because, if you put your shoes on during the transition you must look down to click in to the peddles.  If you have 4 bikes riders all doing this at the same time no one is looking forward for other bikes. One of the rider was an Italian guy that I met at the last tri and he went down hard. I thought to myself I hope this does not end his race.  I navigated this mess and decide not to get into my shoes until I was well clear of transition and on a straight road. I was so happy to get out of this without a problem that I just rode and sucked on my bottle for a good 1/4 mile before looking around and then reaching down and pulling my shoes on. Riding on the top of your shoes is much better than having the pavement for breakfast.  I will never go back to putting my shoes on in transition. 

The sea of Bikes. Which one is mine...

T1 time was 1.44 (Only 7 people in my age group did it faster) I need to have someone film the number one guy next time.  His T1 time was 1:15.  I don't even think I can run from beginning of transition to the mounting area in that time. Forget getting the bike and helmet....