Ocean Shores Half Iron

July of last year, I did the Ocean Shores Half-Ironman. Rode up in the Headhunters van. Pretty drive and we stopped in Aberdeen for coffee and then ate as soon as we got to Ocean Shores. Checked into the Polynesian hotel on the beach, sort of. It was actually a 1/4 mile hike through brush and sand dunes to the beach. When we did the training weekend a few months before we stayed at the Polynesian also. This time I got a 2-room suite for the race. Went to packet pick-up and then Tom and I drove the bike course because he hadn't been at the training weekend. There were deer everywhere on the course and by the hotel. For the race, the swim was in a small lake on the peninsula that was dark and had small stuff floating in it. I started out and the group ahead of me zoomed and I thought I was in last by myself. I kept telling myself- "go faster". When I got out and ran up to the bike, I saw several Headhunters come in after me. I had been at the front of the secondary pack. Got on the bike and my lack of training and conditioning that year hit me. The Headhunters I beat on the swim all zoomed past me saying, "come on Jeff". On the second loop I started speeding up to try and catch Terri who was a couple hundred yards ahead. A car passed me real close even though there were 4 lanes and an empty road. So I looked down to make sure I had enough room on the edge of the road and I heard a crash. Looked up to see Terri on the road The car had buzzed her and frightened her so much she crashed. Ocean Shores is definitely red-neck country. I helped Terri up and yelled at a car on the opposite side to stop and it turned out to be Renee's husband and he took Terri to the hospital. After that I rode slow and safe to the end. The run was road and a couple of miles each way on the beach itself. The sand was hard down by the water so we ran down there. Going on and off the beach you had to run through the deep soft sand which was interesting. Met up with a girl on the run who was from Anacortes and had lost 60 lbs training for this race. She was fun to run with and talk to.

After the race and back to the the hotel, we had a Headhunter bbq and bonfire on the beach. That was really fun, but as it got dark we realized you needed a flashlight to hike back to the hotel. A large group walking as close as possible to the one person with a light. The next day four od us stayed and went to the Ocean Shores museum. Walked out on a rock jetty by the ocean also. Then I walked over by the race start and golfed 9 holes at the Ocean Shores golf course. The next day drove home.