The day was such a beautiful day. To think that such a day exists in November is unthinkable. It was sunny and 80 degrees. Life in Panama City Beach seems to move at a slower pace than at home. At least for me. I have been relaxing and getting a good feel for the venue. I checked into the race today and picked up my athlete race packet. It is official I am athlete 773. In Ironman your race number becomes your identity.

I reassembled my bike today. It always brings a bit of peace of mind when you get your bike out of its bike box and put it back together. Shipping your bike always leaves it susceptible to damage from baggage handlers. But, all is well and nothing was damaged.

After we got my bike put together Kole, my nephew, and I went down to the swim start. I was going to go for a practice swim in the Gulf. I was putting on my wetsuit when I looked into the water. I saw two dorsal fins break the surface of the water. One followed by another. I saw the dorsal fins and the backs of what ever they were. It was as if they had surfaced and then dove back into the water. They did this three times and then disappeared. I yelled to Kole to look out into the water. But he looked too late.

I believe it was a dolphin dorsal fins. Kole had asked me if I was still going to

swim. I was determined to not let the fear I was feeling stop me from getting my swim in. So I set out into the Gulf for my swim. As you can see from the picture there were not many people in the water; and as you swim in the ocean you can only see about ten feet in any direction. So there I was, in the Gulf of Mexico, by my self, after seeing two dorsal fins. You can imagine what was going through my mind. I kept having images of a shark attack. I don’t have to tell you how scary it was. But I went for my swim and made it out of the water to tell of it.