So this past weekend, I proudly completed my first three-mile swim. There is a lot of training, planning, and preparation that goes into this day. I am not going to focus on the training before the event. I am going to actually use this blog to focus on the pre-race preparations and in this specific case the pre-jumping the boat preparation. Let's start about 20 hours before when we get to the event site to do event check-in. here you collect your race goodie bag and get your race number! I should tell you all that you usually get a pre-race packet to know where to stay and what to expect for that weekend. All that aside there is a good amount of preparation that you will want to do to make sure your day goes smoothly. Race check-in is quite simple it basically tells the race team that you will be racing the next day or weekend.

After that, I grab healthy food, probably carbohydrates for dinner and then something easy to eat for breakfast. For this particular breakfast, I ate a cup of oatmeal.  I also grabbed some food for waiting on the boat pre-jump. A plastic bottle of water a piece of fruit and a small peanut butter and jelly sandwich was what I grabbed for pre-jump. Once you've eaten your all set for bed. the morning of we woke up at four am. I had a half an hour to get ready eat and put my clothes on and bring my lube and wetsuit. With race day wether looking pristine, we were able to see what the course was like before the jump. And sooner rather then later we had a beautiful day to jump off the boat and swim. Remeber anything that doesn't come of with you get thrown in the trash. A t-shirt and cheap flipflops are a must before the race. if you leave them it no big deal just realize you won't get them back.

The race turned out to be fabulous as we had sunny beautiful weather. Right after I finished I got to walk over to the brunch tent. Remember this day is about having fun and celebrating all the hard work that you put into that day. Say hi to a new face meet some new people and enjoy a couple of laughs along the way.  If any of you participate in a race tag me using the hashtag #swimphilly. Keep swimming, enjoy the pool, and have fun.