Last minute changes by the race officials made it a non-wetsuit swim for anyone who wanted Kona slots or AG awards. That meant that I would be swimming the 2.4mi without a wetsuit for the first time - the longest that I have ever swum without a wetsuit. It looked like there weren't that many swimming without wetsuits was my initial impression. Lined up in the usual spot, but maybe should have lined up far right as I am getting pummeled and grabbed; people grabbing my left leg at my ankle strap and pulling themselves forward, not all that fair. The only thing I have to say about the swim was it was definitely draining. I was using a lot of energy that I would have hoped to use on the bike and the run. 2nd loop was difficult with toes and calf cramping. I am definitely not used to kicking that long and the legs were definitely rebelling. Rib definitely re-broke during the swim and was moving around, but I was not in that much pain that it would keep me from swimming normally. After a 1:25 (yes that slow) I came out pretty tired and was to face long lines in the changing tent and bike mount - almost a four minute wait to get on the bike. I am way back in the race - not a good place to be - a lot of traffic on the bike - difficult to pass because there are some many bikes. I have to pass on the wrong side of the road. Slow start, but I got into a pretty good rhythm mid-loop. Loop 1 - 5:56 (yes pretty slow). Loop two on the bike started to feel good and I am passing LOTs of people the last 25 miles going up the hills. Lots of guys in my AG. I actually negative split the bike on the second loop and finish in 5:50. The run - I felt good and managed my nutrition much better this year to finish in a PR 3:30 - not bad at all. Overall time: 10:57:43. My slowest time, but with the swim taken into account, I still think I had a pretty good race. Lot's of confusion after about place and all that jazz, but I turned out to be 12th in my AG, which may be my best finish place. With only 5 slots - yes 5, what happened to the 9 slots last year? We think it was a combination of the ratio of people not wearing wetsuits and they have also cut down the total number of slots offered with all the dilution that's going on with the added races. This race definitely favored the good swimmer and a bunch of us got sent packing this year. I have vowed to become a good non-wetsuit swimmer here for the future as next time this happens - I want to be one of the good swimmers for a change!-Kyle
