Great Chesapeake Bay Swim 2009

Put the 2009 edition of the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim in the record book! I had a great weekend in DC and Annapolis with the family....and a great swim today to boot.

Recall, I did the 2008 race here as well. Immediately after the race, I told my family that I wouldn't make plans to do this again any time soon. But, with the passing of weeks (and eventually, months) you remember the good....and forget the bad. Once again I entered the lottery....and got a spot! Why can't this happen with the Kona lottery?

This year's race comes 2 weeks on the heels of a "crash and burn" performance at Ironman Brazil. There's been little training since then, but I did have a good short swim to lead-off a sprint tri relay with some friends back in Mississippi last Saturday. I didn't quite know what to expect for the 4.4 mile swim this year. Thinking back, my longest swim in the past year was 5200 yards....and I've logged about 40% less swim training than before last year's race. I was hoping to finish.

The weather was great this year....sunny skies, temps in the 70's, tolerable humidity. But there was a stiff breeze and the water was very rough. Not quite like the rough waters at IM Brazil, but close....and certainly rougher than at this race last year. Got off to a good start, settled into an aerobic pace, and tried to cruise from start to finish. Finished the miles (at least as they were marked!) in 19 min, 29 min, 30 min, 30 min, and the last 0.4 miles in 19 min. Not entirely sure things were marked correctly. Finished in 2:07, a few minutes slower than last year....and finished in 151st place, a few places better than last year. A great day in the water, I'd say.

In a 2-hour swim, there's ample time to think. I spent a lot of time thinking about coach Justin who raced yesterday in the Boise 70.3. He had a tough day at the races....mirroring my efforts 2 weeks ago at IM Brazil. He was very kind after my meltdown, finding just the right words....and he sounded so discouraged after his race yesterday. I thought again and again....need to have a good race here to get Team JD back on track. Don't let the team down again! I should talk Gordo into doing an article or blog piece about the aftermath of a bad race.

I had celebration dinner with my sister and folks at Cheesecake Factory, where I couldn't get enough food to eat!

Lori tells me to add that I'm laying now on her living room floor with the laptop while the others are eating dessert (that we took home from the Cheesecake Factory).

Looking forward to getting back to training. Next up....the Heart O' Dixie Triathlon on July 25th.