The gods were restless and hostile this week in and out of the water.  Did you guys forget to sacrifice a Tri-newbie last week?  The conditions set the stage for a thrilling adventure race that saw; 6-ft waves, turbulent surf, and a moving buoy in the water attributing to a “Z” double distance course; gusty winds, heavy vehicle traffic (is the DNC near by?) and kamikaze squirrels in the roadway; and comatose pedestrians forming human walls on the run path along with their canine attackers.  Were the planets lined up in an apocalyptic Tri?  Ohhh my.

Final stats on the swim saw 23 kayak like body rolls, 15 gallons of ingested sea water, 12 dislodged goggles, several abandoning ship, and 43 of 46 in desperate need of an orienteering course as only 3 could draw the straight line to the buoy.  Was that a blast or what?  The body surfing at the end was, in the words of Dave Tauberneck, “fabulous!”   How many saw Paul Hennessey mount, I mean wrestle, the buoy back out of navigable waterways?  You’re the man!  The swim was so disorienting not much is remembered on the bike other than the wind, cars and nasty scurrying squirrels turning the course into a mine field.  Thankfully no accidents.   But the run…….  Team Comprehensive took the “Team” part of the name seriously as Captain Todd and Lt. Kurt crossed the finish arm in arm, or was that check to cheek.  Good luck this weekend at Old Colony Olympic Tri.   Who was that in the red suit?  Marvel comic superhero Flash?  Captain America? No, just Nahant super “Kickmaster” Shane Sherwood doing his thing, burning bitumen, passing me, as always.  Hope everyone polished those pearly whites for cameraman Mike. Nice pict of Brandi and Steve there Mike.  Can’t wait to see this year’s slide show.   Welcome back to the big show Sal,.

Congrat to Dave Kilroy blasting to the top swim time, Vinny Miserandio (who beat me by 2 seconds again!) for top bike split, and the ever consistent Warren MacPhail for top run and overall time.

Special thanks go to Jamie and Tara Crowley for the succulent watermelon to wash down all that nasty algae seawater, and little Miss Martin for decorating the melon with the flashy pinwheels.  And congrats  to the back-to-back tough-guy racers hittin’ the Lynn Woods series the night before, Paul, Jay and Kevin Curry, Dave Tauberneck, Art Gray, and however else I may have missed