What am I in for? What will it be like to race so undertrained? Do I even have a time goal? It would be nice for this not to be my slowest Ironman ever. Maybe that's my time goal.

Finally - cannon blasts and off we go. We swim for an eternity until we reach a boat, then take a right turn. Swim a little more, take another right turn, then swim another eternity.

Situate myself behind a competitor I recognize from Ironman Canada. He is large and looks like a manatee in the water. The clear water is nice. Looking at the bottom and other competitors gives me something to do while out there - forever.

At one point it seems no one is around me. Am I last? I dread getting out of the water and seeing a swim time over 2 hours, but I'm pretty sure this is what I'm looking at. I just feel so slow.

Finally I see the finish steps. Swim directly to steps and get yanked out of the water and onto my feet. Weeeee! I try to walk forwards but actually walk sideways, at a 90 degree angle to my intended path. Plow into one of the guys pulling people out of the water. He is large and soft and I bounce off him. He sets me straight, and on my way I go.

I finally dare to look at my watch. 1:27! Not over 2 hours! Right on par with my other IM swims. Can't ask for more than that.

I walk the hill from the swim exit to transition. See Robert on the way, who is fiddling with the camera at the time. He has been taking photos of our friends coming out of the swim, and just realized he did not have film in the camera. No swim exit photos this year.

T1:

What do I do in transition that takes so much time? I can never remember.

We have to run by the men's tent entrance to get to the women's tent. There sure are a lot more men in the race than women. That place is packed.

It is cool outside and I cannot decide how to dress. The things a girl has to decide. At home if I was riding in these conditions I would wear a jacket or arm warmers. What is everyone else wearing? I look around the transition tent. Cycling shorts and jog bras or sleeveless tops. Hmmm. Should I go by what others are doing, or go by my own rules? I don't want to wear a jacket then be too hot. I decide to stuff my arm warmers into the pockets in my tank top and leave my shocking yellow jacket behind. I glance at my watch as I head for the tent exit. Less than 6 minutes! Woo Hoo! That's a record for me. Finally I will have a transition less than 10 minutes!

As I run towards my bike I realize it is cold outside. Very cold and very cloudy. I NEED MY JACKET. I don't care what everyone else is wearing, I want a jacket. Run back into the tent and ask for my bag back. "We threw it in one of these piles" I am told as she points to two huge piles of bags. We each dig through a pile until I find the bag. Yank my yellow jacket out, pull it on and head back outside. You can all freeze to death in your jog bras and sleeveless tops, I'm going to be comfortable .

T1 time: 9:06. Still under 10:00, but not such a big Woo Hoo as before.