Wrightsville Beach/Wilmington YMCA Sprint Tri

Never underestimate a milestone. The Wilmington YMCA Triathlon at Wrightsville Beach was my 2nd open-water tri, and I had done just about all of my open-water training in Banks Channel, swimming along the docks.

THE SWIM: 1500m in 31:10, 111th of 113 in my age group, 656th of 705 men
This would be my first time actually swimming ACROSS the channel. The first 300m or so got me a little freaked out. It was cross-current, and suddenly felt like such a vast expanse of water. I was redlined and went for the lifeguards, just so I could grab on to a surfboard and take a moment to collect myself. Of course, this put me in an annoying little eddy that I would have to fight my way out of when I started up again. But soon I found the current, and got into a comfort zone, at least enough that the second sharply-angled leg (at least it was mostly downcurrent) didn't bother me nearly so much. Some annoying chop at the end (when the wind is directly opposite the current, it doesn't take much) but I made it.

THE BIKE: 12 miles in 32:18, 19th/113 AG, 81st/705 men
Solid and strong all the way, might have had more if not bottled up in the 1.5 miles worth of no-passing zones on this course. I knew I had to save something for the run, but did I save enough?

THE RUN: 5k in 24:04, 38th/113 AG, 178th/705 men
Hot and slow, but steady... splits were almost even. I've got to remember that it was, in fact, hot... and I'm not the same runner that went 21:55 off the bike at Azalea in March.

Total time with transitions: 1:31:20, 73rd/113 AG, 335th/705 men