Imagine yourself standing on a beach at 6:55am. The cool dawn envelopes your senses and the damp sand to which your toes clutch feels like your only shelter. You are wearing a wetsuit, goggles and a swim cap, and though you are sharing your experience with about 2000 others, little comfort is to be found in their camaraderie. Over the next 5 minutes your heart will settle higher and more squarely in the back of your throat until a cannon blast will signal the start of your journey, a "race" beginning with a swim (45 comments)