More race pictures...

Post swim cheering on athletes in transition before I got too cold and had to head back to the pool.


Carry coming in for the win!

Pictures by Beth Rand Photography.

CELT 2009 Race report

425 yards in the pool, 14 miles on the bike and 5K trail run.
Short and sweet... it rained a lot.
And it rained some more.
And then we won first relay overall thanks to our astounding races by Lorenzo, 2nd fastest bike OA, and Carry, fastest runner OA!
I broke out the FS Pro speed suit as I probably won't be able to wear it at any Masters meets this year. Got close to John in the water but he was too fast. But then my speedy little legs caught him on the way out on the run. Sorry dude! Not even close to Steve. Not sure that will ever happen.
Way to go team. Congrats to Katie (OA women's winner) Mary, Stacey, Jeff (OA men's winner), Mike (who finally got to beat Mary) and Team Brady-McCusker (Family Relay winners).

Here's to more fun relays next year.
Final stats:
Swim: 5:10 (fastest woman OA)
Bike: 38:17
Run: 20:07

It must be the 1st day of Masters

2:36 am ... I am sleeping so fine. I am a great sleeper. No problem falling asleep and I never feel sluggish. Naps. I love them.

But little people waking me up in the night being scared or because of pee problems... well that pretty much wrecks the rest of the night. So here I am at 4:48am wide awake eating a banana and a glass of chocolate milk, ready for the 1st day of Masters. No matter that I only got 5 1/2 hours of sleep. Three more months of hard training ahead, then a short break and then two more months. Yup that is it... swim season. No more basking in the warm sunlight swimming in the sea of inspiration, traveling to exciting races with "shark" or "island" or "escape" in the banners. Nope. Back to the chlorine and hairballs and 5am morning practices and leaving the house in sub-zero weather and snowstorms to get to the pool. I'm leaving behind the intoxicating smell of neoprene and that stunning superhero look.

But if there is anything good about buckling down for a long cold New England winter, it is getting back with all my Masters teammates. Without them I'm quite sure I wouldn't be having so much fun.

Here I go!

YTD yardage totals

January: 22,400

February: 23,500

March: 26,000

April: 21,800

May: 30, 510

June: 28,165

July: 32,025

August: 19,305

Rockland Breakwater race report or Starfish 1.4 mile or Tropical Storm Danny Race

The Breakwater on a sunny day... not at all what it looked like today.

Imagine if you can ....
Seas 4-6 feet. White caps. Constant driving chop. Wind speed 20 m.p.h. Pelting rain. Air 53. Water 60. Oh yeah, Tropical Storm Danny was bearing down on little ol' Rockland Maine.

But I make this sound more exciting than it was. Once we got in the water all that disappeared and all that was left was 60 degree water that felt goood and a little swim with lots of fun people including my pals the IronMatron and Kathy the Alcatraz escapee.

On account of the weather conditions the race was shortened from an upside down "J" loop around the lighthouse to a straight 1.4 mile out and back along the breakwater (down from a 1.6 mile). The breakwater did it's job and completely protected us from the crashing surf and monster waves on the other side. On our side it was mostly flat and warm with the only inconvenience being a multitude of lobster pots. Can't get more Maine than that.

They had the Rockland Police, a Rockland EMT, the Marine Patrol, the Coast Guard and a whole slew of lifeguards and kayakers. We were watched over.

I was arm for arm with Mike and Dave for about .3 miles, which was fun but I had to apologize because I kept knocking into them as they created a wave that kept pulling me closer to them. After that I went closer to the breakwater to cut down on the distance I ultimately would swim and lost them. For the rest of race I was alone mostly. On the way back along the breakwater were dozens of starfish which were a pleasant distraction.

It all went by pretty quickly..... I apologize for the lack of pictures but it was too rainy and cold to even attempt any photography (pictures are from last year).

Final stats:
3rd OA
1st woman
time tba....

And congrats to Mary who was 2nd woman in the 1.6, Cheryl who was 1st woman in the 3.2 and Kathy who was 2nd woman in the 3.2 mile race! that's a no "gomer" zone. Way to swim hard women!

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Features Kathy (orange) and I (green) swimming to Richmond Island earlier this summer on a gorgeous and calm Sunday morning.

This was one of those summer swims that gets me through the long dark and frigid days in January.

Climate change?

From WCSH in Portland Maine...
"As of 7PM another 0.17" of rain had been recorded at the Portland Jetport. This brought the monthly precipitation total to 3.45" and the meteorological summer (June, July & August) total to 20.61" which is the wettest summer ever."

The ocean here in Portland has topped 70 degrees Farenheit many times in the last two weeks, just as The New York Times reported the warmest ocean temperatures ever this July.

Today the body surfing was amazing today thanks to Hurricane Bill, while yesterday the beaches were closed due to the tremendous and dangerous waves. A 7-year old girl died in Acadia National Park after being swept away at Thunder Hole by a rogue wave along with her parents. She was found dead later. Kind of puts it all in perspective.