On Thursday morning the boys and I got up and went to check out the water for a short practice swim. There were people milling about the area and the energy of the race was humming just under the surface. The water was brackish and felt cold when I first put my face in it. I had a moment of "oh no, I can't do this!" before I settled in and began to enjoy the swim. It was just perfect, I could have swum and swum all day if I didn't have a race coming up. After our short swim we picked up our bikes from Kevin at Cycle Chauffeur (I can't recommend him enough) and took a short ride to make sure that everything was in working order, followed by a brief run. Again, I was taken by how beautiful the area was. We hit the water one more time on Friday morning and this time I saw some of the jelly fish that everyone was talking about. I was happy that we got two super laid back chances to get into the water before the race because I had very little apprehension about swimming on race day. The water was fabulous and I could already tell that I was going to have a blast.
Friday was pretty uneventful, other than dropping off our bikes and transition bags, it was lots of hanging out around the house, watching baseball, reading, napping, and snacking. I didn't feel super nervous, rather I just kept thinking "What have you done?" and "It is too late to turn back now!" But mostly I felt ready to get started...no more training left to do, it was time to get to work.
I slept lightly, but better than expected, and was ready to wake up when my alarm went off. We were staying in a house just a few blocks from transition so that made race morning super uncomplicated. The air was heavy with humidity when we stepped outside and it was noticeably warmer than it had been on our other mornings here. Once we were in transition, I pumped up my tires and made final preparations with my bike. I stood there for a few minutes and just took in the hustle and energy of the scene, I could hardly believe that I was about to do this. Finally I gathered myself and left transition and joined Mr K, Baha, Erin, and Karen by the swim start. I kept finding myself with tears in my eyes because the moment was just so overwhelming. All those hours, all those miles, all those days spent chasing Mr K and Baha around in the hot summer sun were about to come to fruition. The training challenged me and changed me and it was about to culminate in one amazing day. I gave Erin and Karen one last hug and we lined up with all of the others.
Swim
I felt very calm heading into the swim and I was grateful for the two practice swims that we had done in Cambridge as well as our faithful Snake Island swims at Lake Grapevine every Friday during the summer. I probably would have seeded myself with a slower group, but Baha insisted that I start with him in a faster group. I gave Mr K one last hug and kiss and told him to be safe and have a good day then waited with Baha for our turn to start the race. I had such high hopes for my guys and knew that I would miss spending the day with them as we did most Saturdays. I took a deep breath as I waded into the water and I watched Baha dive in and slip away into the distance. That would be the last time I saw him until mile 1 of the run. The water was great - temperatures in the mid to low 70s and brackish and fairly smooth - I felt fine in my sleeveless wetsuit. The threat of jellyfish was always at the back of my mind and, at the advice of a local, I'd taken the precaution of putting Aquaphor on my arms and face.
It wasn't long until the next group of swimmers was approaching as I found myself slowing up a bit so that they could pass. I'm not sure why I turned into a huge chicken there in the water because I felt quite comfortable with my abilities. Maybe I still have flashbacks/fears from that first OWS race at Redman 70.3? I would never let a group of runners or cyclists pass me by during a race but each time a pack of swimmers came by I found myself slowing a bit. I also found that I tended to swim towards the outside of the lane as another way to avoid people, which means I swam at least a couple hundred yards extra. It is certainly something that I will work on for the future, gotta find my inner swimming badass. Aside from feeling slow, everything else was going quite well. Every now and again I'd be overwhelmed with a happy "holy smokes, I'm doing this!" feeling.
The swim course was a giant rectangle shape that we swam twice and I appreciated that it was a loop because I didn't really have to see just how far we were going. I fell into a steady rhythm of swimming buoy to buoy. My splits from the race results are within a second of each other, consistent all the way, in typical MK fashion. I was very happy to keep going straight at the end of the second loop to head for the swim finish. I was going to make it with no drama, no freak-outs, no major incidents - my goal anytime that I race in the open water. I still can't believe that I am capable of swimming 2.4 miles. I was surprised to see Erin and Karen cheering for me right at the swim exit. Their cheers stayed with me as I headed into transition.
Official time: 1:41:26
T1
It is amazing how fast time flies by when you are in transition. I felt like I was just there a few minutes, but in reality it was nearly 11 minutes. I could hustle through there a lot faster, but I wanted to make sure that I had everything set for the 112 bike ride that awaited me on the other end. Volunteers were spraying people who had been stung by jellyfish with some kind of vinegar concoction and I was extra thankful that I avoided those guys. Bike gear on, sunscreen applied, bike food crammed into pockets....it was time to go for a little ride.
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