Had fun in Madison, WI yesterday with the 2.4 mile open water race. Finished in 1:11:03 very relaxed and comfortable. Could have easily kept going a long time and that made me feel good. Swam with DOug McConnell and he had a great swim at 1:01. He has a very base and excellent stroke mechanics. He will continue to be a good inspiration and training partner as we go to these elsewhere.
My first official mass start was all the arms, legs, kicking and "bumper cars" of the 288 person start,,,,something. Threw me off a little bit especially when you really dont get a chance to warm up correctly. Doing more of these races in the future will be training but warming up a good idea if allowed.
Once out threre, got settled after 1/2 mile and worked through into the second mile. This came easier and I was able to focus on stroke rate and long pulls catching wet suit folks consistently. Swimming without a wetsuit is a great mental motivator to me as I look at it as "I'm tougher and still go as fast or faster" I think with some more experience with these starts I'll do even better. Overall a nice experience and good start to the racing side of open water swimming. As for finishing, Doug got I 15th and I finished at 38 out of 288. We both were pleased since this was a tough field. Many major tri-athletes were there gearing up for the Ironman and let me tell you some of them are really in shape!
In all, I am most pleased with how comfortable I felt, giving the level of training done to date (20k per week with no weights, cross training, etc) and know as I bring in other cross training and activity I will only get better.
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