All the pictures will show it, my indefatigable smile I had a great race. Not fast or uneventful, but fun. And that was the point, no?
Not 5 min into the swim, I realized that yes, this was going to be a considerable challenge. Keeping all negative thoughts out and switching to survival (minus the panic) mode. All the way out was buoy to buoy, mostly breast-stroke but freestyle whenever I got close because that was so much faster. The chop was constant, 4-6 feet and almost every stroke either a rise or precipitous drop. Freestyle meant a face slap on every downside of the wave, so breast stroke slowly got me out. Unlike other swims, the purple caps I started with were still to be found around me all the way to the shore again - I was faring as good as most anyone else. At the cross point, all freestyle and fast. Coming in though was also tough, a strong eastern current, diagonal chop again and no buoys to mark by, just the shore. I'm sure I swam closer to 1.5 miles because of the current, and it was the never-ending leg, but it was in the right direction so +90% of that got freestyle. And I was definitely thinking a lot of the time - go ahead, give me your worst, I'm still going to finish! So that felt good.
Other racers comments on the swim:
“So glad the swim went off as planned despite brutal current and surf.”
“Definitely a "washing machine" swim but no oil thank goodness.”
“I was hoping the gulf would have been a lot more calm, the swim was rough.”
“I had a great time and learned a lot of things. First and foremost, wetsuits aren't just for water temp. I'll never race in the ocean again without one unless it's like glass at the start.”
“All three venues were great despite the brutal surf conditions.”
“As for the swim all I can say is God has a wicked sense of humor. I bet he's still chuckling about it. “
“The gulf was a bit angry providing a washing machine environment for the swim.”
The bike crash - just one of those things that was luckily fairly benign. I was checking the bike over at the beginning, while being mindful to keep to the right so I wouldn't be blocking any passers. I swear I didn't look away for more than a second or two and suddenly orange is going under my front tire - no time to react or even swear before I slid out to the left on my right side about 12 feet. Lost all the Gatorade in my jet stream (my first thought), I wasn't seriously hurt (my second thought), and the bike was fully functional after I pulled the front brake caliper back to center. Less than 1 min I was off again. Shaken but alternately laughing and holding back tears. My eyes were fairly glued to what was ahead of me the rest of the ride. I poured water over my shoulder confirming, with sharp stinging, some scrapes. But nothing that persisted much after 5 miles. I thought I might be much longer so I was happy to come in before 3:30 for the bike. I ate, drank and rested as much as possible too, just like you told me to. And it worked wonders. That made me happy.
I took my time in both transitions so I don't think I was a full 3 hours on the run, but certainly 2:40. They handed out so much ice that I think it got addictive and felt so hot between aid stations because of it. My knee started talking to me annoyed by mile 7 and angry by mile 11 but since there was a good mix of walking - no serious dispute followed. All that is really good.
My mom and sister caught the start, all transitions and the end, and they should have some great pictures. I bet I'm smiling in each one. After finishing we came straight back to the room, I took an ice bath, drank my chocolate milk, took ibuprophen and finished (I shared) a bottle of champagne (while emailing you earlier) and then a 40min nap. Now I'm relatively energetic and really happy and looking forward to the awards party at 6:30pm.
I may not be fast or particularly graceful, but I smiled the whole time and in the back of the pack I'm always told I look strong, I think they mean strong in spirit.
Oh - when I get back I'll tell you all about Black Shirley. I would pass her but then she'd appear ahead of me again, bike and run both. I'm pretty sure she was real but didn't catch her race number...
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