THE Triathlon- The Swim

The alarm was supposed to go off at 5am but I was up at 4:30 obsessing over the list I made and how I felt. I was tired. I wasn’t ready to do this. I wanted to sleep. Yet I couldn’t sleep that extra 30 min. What d I eat? I want to have enough fuel so I ate an Englsh muffin with peanut butter, bowl of cereal and a vegan sausage and water. I was full.

Our dear friend Heidi came to support us and stay with the kids. They were all asleep. We headed down to the college to set up T2 (the bike run transition). I was elated when I saw the organizers in their gear guiding traffic. Cones were up. The bike racks were up. People with really cool tri and street bikes were setting up. By then I was bright eyed and bushy tailed literally hopping about. I saw our coach and friend Sara and gave her a big hug. She looked a little nervous. She was competing too. We finished set up 15 minutes ahead of schedule and headed to the lake to set up T1 and warm up.

We reached the lake and one of the organizers directed us to the parking. We got there and here we were. At the lake. I’m nervous. What if I panic at the swim? We walk our bikes and our trash bags full of gear down the hill. We are greeted by Ron, our friend and photographer. I wanted him to get some shots of Byron and James crossing the finish line. He gets us walking our bikes. We reach T1. I find my spot, a perfect spot right by the steps from the lake.

I seet up and see Mike and our teammates. I am so thrilled to see everyone. There are so many other unfamiliar faces it is comforting to see everyone we spent the last 14 weeks with. I aks Mike where to swim and when to warm up.

The body numbering lady comes by. I have my wetsuit on then and I am elated. I watched some Ironman footage and thought the body numbering was way cool. I am 502. She writes 502 in marker on my left upper arm and left calf with my age on my right calf. I am concerned about when my start time is. Everyone with the pink swimcaps goes first. Men then women 39 and under. Uh, so I go 2^nd. Yes, at 8:03. *gulp* I am anxious about getting to the lake and warming up. Peiple are moving down. It’s 7:45. the time when we all have to meet at the lake to hear instructions. Shit. I’m scared, really scared. Scared about having a panic attack and being fished out and disqualified. I need to see James and Byron and say sort of a goodbye to them.

J and I get in to warm up and the water is warm even though the air is cold. It’s nicer than where we practiced. I swim some laps and stay in the water. I see Byron. He is in the first group. He and I plan where we will start. We both decide to start at the very end to avoid getting run over by the crowd. Mike is in the same group as Byron and he reminds me to just relax and have fun.

It’s time. He is lined up. J and I are close to shore. Everyone enthusiastically counts.. I yell out to Byron Good Luck and how much I love him…

10—9---8—7--------3---2---GO!

Byron and his crew are off.

That means I have 3 minutes. Shit! I need to warm up. I swim a circle and lose sight of James. I look back and he’s talking. I yell out in fear. James! He looks at me and cheers me on. I’m scared. But I’m about to do this.

I’m finally doing this. I’m happy. I’m scared. It’s time. I don’t here a long countdown. Only a 3---2---1! Uh. It’s time. I look back and turn around and go. I realize I am finally doing my triathlon. I start crying as I swim. I’m swimming well by the way. My form is good but I am crying like crazy. My goggles are half full of tears.

Then I look up and I can’t quite see the boat in the fog. There are two kayaks in the distance around the boat and a sheriff’s boat to my left. I swim towards the sheriffs boat to avoid the crowd. It’s easier to see. I feel the panic coming on. I start to think about stopping. I can’t breathe. Shit! No! Absolutely not. I worked too hard for this to just give up now. What will I tell people? I trudge on and hope to breathe. It stops and I am fine. I swim slowly and get into my rhythm. I see the next wave in the distance swimming past me. I am going pretty far off course. I try to correct. Meanwhile I look up to site and I see waves. Waves? In a lake? What are these? I guess maybe there are waves this far out? What if I get swept under? What if they hold me back like at the beach? What in the world do I do with waves? (I found out later they were from a jet ski)

After a while I see the boat, the one we have to go around. I am closer but have a ways to go since I am way off to the left. I swim head on to the boat and pass it. I am happy. I get teary eyed again. I am doing it. I see the dock and all the tiny people lined up. It’s far. The kayaks are telling me to stay on course. I see the crowd and realize just how far off I am. But the dock looks straight ahead. Swim swim swim. I work on my sighting and am doing well except it seems to be taking forever. The people still look as tiny as they did 25 strokes ago. Am I going in circles? I keep swimming realizing this is quite a bit further than ½ mile. People are looking bigger and I can see more detail. I get closer and one of the kayaks is next to me. I see my teammate who hates swimming having a hard time. I tell her “way to go! You’re doing it!!” I am thrilled to see her. She is on the other side of the kayak. She didn’t know who I was. I keep swimming and get even closer. I am elated. I get close and touch bottom. Yuk, it’s muddy. I swim to my right and continue to swim to the ramp. I get close enough and I see everyone. I did it! I did the swim!

I get ready to run and see Ron photographing me. I see Heidi and my kids, my dear friend Laura. There they are. Elated, my heart is warm. I take the top of my wetsuit off and run up the ramp, up the steps to my bike. My friends follow me. I am thrilled to see them and want to stay and chat. Laura tells me something and I say I just did the hard part. I see Mike and Sharon and give them a big hug. Mike tells me how well I did and I look back and there are still many swimmers. I look at him in shock and point this out to him. I get my suit off, shoe son and shove some Odwalla bar in my mouth, drink Gatorade and water. I tell Luna and Liam I love them and I’m off on my bike…