Half Iron Man Team

In late December I was asked to join a team and do the swim portion for a Half Iron Man event in Cayman called the Mercury Man Triathlon.  Today was the big day.  The team splits the three events that make up the triathlon so I would swim a 1.2 mile course, followed by a teammate, Marcella, doing a 56 mile bike and then a third teammate, Marco, doing a 13.1 mile run.  Our team was called Run ZMC using the first initial of each of our last names and a takeoff on the 80's rap group.  With a 7 a.m. start time out in East End it was an early morning wake up and drive to be in the transition area by 5:30 a.m.  

My part was first and the water was very choppy and cold for Cayman.  I had not done a competitive swim on the eastern end of the island having always done them off seven mile so this was a new experience in terms of conditions.  The course was a huge triangle with two laps each .6 miles.  Here is a shot of all of us getting in the water, I am in the black and white shirt almost dead center of the photo.

It was hard to get a rhythm with the waves but I was able to get in with a group and we paced each other through the last 1/2 of the race. My unofficial finishing time was 41:54 when I got out of the water.  After getting out of the water I had a short run to the transition where I tagged our biker who then headed out onto the bike course.  I spent the rest of day volunteering at a water stop and cheering on my teammates.  We finished in a little over 6 and 1/2 hours.  Here we are before the start and then at the finish with our medals.