Training Week 10 - Sunday - The number is 1:35:40 :)

That's the time I took to complete a Sprint distance triathlon. The Sprint distance is:

• 0.3 mile swim (or 500 meters)
  
• 12.3 mile bike ride
• 3 mile run

Time from entering the water to running across the finish line: 1 hour 35 minutes 40 seconds

We did it on Treasure Island, between San Francisco and Oakland, just off the Bay Bridge. It is not the ocean, but part of the San Fran Bay. Below is an aerial shot with the routes and distances.

This was the first time I tried on my wetsuit and swam in open water. The water was not as cold as I thought it would be. The hardest challenge I had was to focus my mind and just swim. I hyperventilated, I panicked when I crashed into people, I was thinking of the movie "Jaws". It took real effort to not give up and just keep on swimming out to sea.

I will try and do more open water swims between now and the Olympic triathlon on September 8th. I was really happy that I had more swim endurance than the 500 meters I did today. But I'll be doing a full mile for the Olympic, and I'll need mental focus and calm along with endurance to make it through.