Swim

Executive summary:

• I look like a dork running through the water in in my track shorts and swim cap.
• The water was nice and warm.
• I felt good initially and passed someone.
• Then, I was passed by more people than had signed up for the race.
• A good portion of the swim was spent alternating between the crawl and the back stroke.
• A race volunteer in a kayak almost tried to rescue me. I gave him a thumbs up because that's just how I roll.
• When I finally got a good rhythm, someone kicked me and that was the end of that.
• Being beaten by a fat lady is both mildly humiliating and "inspirational".

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Long Form:

The course was a 600 yard triangle in a lake. There were three legs to the swim; out to the first buoy, across the lake to the second buoy and back to the shore. The second leg was the longest.

Leg 1:

The guy told me "Go" and I jogged to the water. I ran until the water was up to the middle of my thighs and dove in.

After seeing the pictures from this point, I found that I was pretty much guaranteed to look like a dork running into the water. A swim cap is not the most flattering head ware and even the most athletic person looks a little silly running through water. Compound that with my near-naked (track shorts only), flabby body and the end result is really quite sad.

Once I hit the water, that didn't matter any more. The water was warm and I felt strong. I didn't have a wet-suit to distract me and I thought I was doing well. I passed a guy who was doing the side stroke. I felt great.

It turned out that I wasn't quite as prepared for the swim as I had hoped.

Unfortunately, before I was halfway to the first buoy, my breathing started to get more difficult. I tried to breast stroke but I was still having trouble catching my breath. It was around then that people started to pass me.

I flipped over on my back to catch my breath but that let me see a swarm of people behind me. That kinda scared me so I flipped right back. I tried to press on, alternating between crawl and breast stroke.

I tried to draft off of someone at this point but someone else had the same idea and cut me off. I then tried to draft of the next person but it was confusing and by the time I had worked it out they were gone.

Soon, I realized that I wasn't going to make it to the end if I just used the crawl and breast stroke. The swim seemed very long at that point.

I swallowed my pride and swam on my back. My breath was still fast for awhile but eventually it calmed down. I then alternated between crawl and backstroke. I was still pushing forward when I was on my back. It isn't fast but it does make some progress.

While I was on my back, I saw one of the guys in a kayak yell something to me. I couldn't hear him but I turned over to look at my surroundings. It turned out that I was dangerously close to cutting on the inside of buoy one (I probably would have hit it).

I immediately fixed my direction but the kayak guy was still coming up to me. In retrospect he was probably going to rescue me. I gave him a thumbs up (mostly to thank him for correcting my direction) and he waved and I made my way around the first buoy.

Leg 2:

The back stretch was not the greatest. I was still alternating between crawl and backstroke. Many people passed me. I tried to stay on the inside and out of the way (I wasn't going to go to the outside because I had enough distance to swim as it was).

During the last quarter of the second leg, I started feeling a little better. I tried drafting again but couldn't keep up.

Finally, I got the the second buoy.

Leg 3:

After the second buoy, I could see the end. I really started to hit a rhythm with the crawl for about 10 strokes before someone kicked me. I went back to crawl/breast stroke (I didn't want to flip on my back so close to the end).

The last leg seemed to take forever. I could see the goal the whole way and it wasn't getting closer as fast as I thought it should.

When I got reasonably close to shore, I decide to drop my feet to see if I could walk. The water was up just above my waist. I tried a thing where I used my arms to crawl but pushed on the bottom with my legs. Eventually, I got up and ran.

Just ahead of me was a rather chubby woman. I'm reasonably certain that she started behind me. To be honest that hurt my pride a little but she beat me fair and square.

Final Thoughts:

The swim was a rather odd experience for me. It seemed to take forever. It felt more like I was stranded out in the middle of a lake than I was in a race.

But I finished it and it was good to get out of the water knowing that I had that under my belt.

mwz