Reflections of Iron: The Swim

I don't have a hard time falling asleep the night before a big race.  I have a hard time staying asleep.  Club La Vella down the road had a Halloween Party, and a few of our fellow renters brought the party home with them.  Lucky for me, the contigent of Honduran triathletes in the condo next door weren't nearly as nice as I was.  They quickly put an end to the rowdy behavior.  By 11:30 PM, I was back to sleep.

The room was dimly lit when I woke at 3 AM.  Each lamp in the bedroom had dimmer switches.  Dee Dee had left one on but turned it down as low as it would go.  My mind was already in race mode.  I debated getting up or trying to go back to sleep.  The longer I lay there, the bigger the urge to get up.  I woke with a start when the alarm clock went off at 4:20 AM.  "Good!", I thought.  Another hour or so sleep would do me just right.  I pretty much jumped out of bed, got dressed, then rousted the family to get ready.

I had three primary objectives for the morning.  One, feed myself.  Two, prepare my bottles and nutrition.  Three, get the family to the race on time.  Everything went very smoothly.  As we were getting ready to leave, Dee Dee called me into the den to show me their t-shirts.  This was a surprise for me.

The front of the shirts said, "IronSherpa".  Dee Dee had put these letters on the back herself.  Have I told you guys that she is the best sherpa ever?  and the kids as well!!

We grabbed all the gear and headed down to the race site.  I expected a lot more people to be there early, but we still managed to score a parking spot on the side of the road near Alvin's Island.  Exiting the car, we began the short walk to the Boardwalk.  Along the way, I dropped off my special needs bags.  I had had a hard time deciding what to put into my bags.  In my bike bag, I put a spare tube two air canisters, a pack of crackers, and some sunscreen.  My run bag had sunscreen and a change of socks.

The closer I got to transition, the louder the voices got.

Body marking!  Body marking!

Volunteers had their hands in the air.  Dee Dee told me to find Sarah.  Dee Dee said, "Sarah didn't come all this way to let you get away without her body marking you!".  It didn't take long.  Sarah was body marking another triathlete as we walked up.  I got a big hug, and Sarah proceeded to mark me up.  She asked me if I wanted a smiley face, but I declined.  I'm just not a smiley face kind of person.  My thoughts turned to the triathlete killed by the shark in San Diego.  If I wasn't going to put "Go Dave Go" on my arm, then I wasn't going to have a smiley face either.

Slowly, I made my way into the transition area and over to my bike.  Everything appeared to be in order.  I unpacked all my food and bottles and loaded up Aerowyn.  As I set the aero bottle in place, I realized I had lost my straw.  I started bitching and moaning about my stupidity.  The triathlete next to me said, "That just sucks.  If I had an extra one I would hand it right over to you!"  I know he meant well, but it didn't help a whole hell of a lot.  Part of the fun of racing is keeping yourself calm cool and collected.  I found Dee Dee standing along the fence, outside of transition.  I sent her off to get me a new straw and waited patiently with the kids.  In short order, she was back, and my straw ordeal was over.

Aerowyn was ret to go.  I set off to find my sister.  Let me tell you about my crazy ass sister.  She decided when she got pregnant that she wasn't going to do Ironman.  At the last minute, she changed her mind.  She had a baby three months ago.  Ran in a marathon six weeks ago.  Swam nada in the last year.  Ditto on riding the bike.  I was sure she was going to die.  I found her as she made her way into transition and went with her to set up her bike.  I helped her pump her tires.  She didn't know how to do that either!  LOL...  Once she was finished, we sat in the grass and waited for start time to approach.

About a quarter after six, I began putting on my wet suit.  I had the legs on and began pulling the suit up over my arms when I realized I still had my pants on.  Doh!!!  I had to take the wet suit off, strip down to my jammers, then repeat the process over again.  I laughed, took deep breaths, and got it done.  Kelly and I walked out of transition in our wet suits and met up with the family.  My Mom and step-father were waiting for us at the entrance to transition.  We hooked up with Dee Dee and the kids and made our way down to the beach.

I guess Kelly wasn't sure if she would be able to find me after my practice swim.  I gave her a big hug before heading down to the water.  I slipped in and did a little bit of swimming.  I didn't really want to warm up.  I just wanted to get used to the water and feel comfortable in my wet suit.  It didn't take long for me to get that warm fuzzy feeling.  I knew at that point, I was ready to go.

I managed to find the family again.  We went through a round of pictures before making our way into the pen for the swim start.  At 6:50 AM, the cannon went off and the pros hit the water.  I watched this process with great interest as I am always interested in seeing the professionals.  Now was the time to position myself for the swim start.  I usually start wide right and to the back.  I almost always find room this way.  Unfortunately, the pen we were in had an end to it.  That basically meant there was a lot of people the entire length.  Kelly and I positioned ourselves just to the right of middle, behind the throng of people.  We waited.

The clock continued to climb towards 7 AM.  With a minute and a half to go, the goggles went on.  It was game time.  With a resounding boom, the cannon went off.  Two thousand triathletes, over half of them first timers, waded into the Gulf of Mexico and started the swim.

The water was refreshingly cool.  Between the shore and the sandbar, which was about fifty yards off shore, the water was about ten degrees colder.  I waded/walked until the water got up to my waist.  I then put my face into the water and started swimming.

Normally in my races, I try real hard to avoid the crowds.  There was no avoiding it here.  I am always scared of having the crap beat out of me during these swims.  So far, I have successfully avoided this.  For the first part of the swim, I found myself unable to swim at the pace I wanted to.  This was probably a good thing.  I kept on the heels of the swimmer in front of me, careful to avoid the kicking of his feet.  When he popped his head up out of the water to breast stroke, that was my signal to stop.  When space opened up around him/her, I went around them.  I accepted the the jostling and soft blows from the side.  This just kind of came with the territory.  I felt the swimmers behind me touching my feet, and I was careful not to kick unless it was absolutely necessary.

As a group, we made our way down the course to the first turn buoy.  I was hoping to find some open water to swim in, once we made the turn.  The swimmers were really bunched up at the turn.  Everybody had their heads out of the water, doing the breast stroke.  I resisted the urge to bark like a seal.  When I stuck my head up out of the water, my right leg was seized by a nasty cramp.  I cursed.  I knew that if I didn't address this immediately, I would suffer for it the rest of the day.  I stretched the leg out and sent relaxing thoughts to the muscles.  Whatever I did worked.  The cramp went away and didn't bother me for the rest of the day.

The mass of swimmers pulled me along, and I found myself on the other side of the turn buoy with little effort.  Suddenly, I was getting pounded left and right from the sides.  I raised my head up out of the water and said, "This sux!" to a guy next to me.  He agreed, and I angled right to the outside of the pack.  In a space of ten seconds or so, I found some open water and was back to swimming.

The top of the box was heading directly into the rising sun.  I followed the swimmers in front of me until I reached the second turn buoy.  While still crowded, I was finally beginning to get into a rythm.  After making the second turn, I again hoped that the crowds would thin out a bit, but it was not meant to be.  The first lap was just plan crowded!  I kept my head down and swam at the best place I possibly could.  I didn't feel like I was working too hard.  I certainly didn't want to burn myself out on the swim!  Suddenly, the bottom appeared.  I knew I was getting close.  I swam until my hand touched the bottom, then climbed to my feet and exited the water.

Taking my goggles off, I glanced around to see if I could find Dee Dee.  I did not see her.  I crossed the timing mat and turned left back towards the water.  Volunteers were there, handing out water to the swimmers.  I grabbed a quick cup of water before re-entering the gulf.  I waded out to about knee deep this time.  Wading was seriously hurting my shins, and I didn't want to do anything to them that might affect the rest of my race.

The second lap seemed like it took longer, and in retrospect, it did.  The clock on my first lap said forty five minutes.  I was a little disappointed in that time, but I decided early that time didn't matter for this race.  It wasn't until after my second lap that I realized they hadn't adjusted the clock for the pros yet.  On this loop, I was able to sight off a charter boat out past the first buoy.  Have I mentioned to you guys how much I love swimming?  I have come such a long long way from the scared triathlete that dreaded the open water.  I loved swimming in the gulf.  The fact I was a half mile off shore meant nothing to me.  I mean, I wouldn't want to do it by myself, but with two thousand of your closest friends, it rocked!!

Finally, finally, finally!  Open water in which to swim.  I set a comfortable pace, not as fast as South Carolina, but reasonable for me.  I made my way across the top of the box and hung a left back towards the beach.  Every once in a while, when I lifted my head up to sight, the waves would slap me in the face.  I got a couple of mouth fulls of water this way, but I tried not to drink the gulf.  I was trying to stay closer to the buoys this time, but I ended up about twenty yards on the inside.  This didn't bother me too much, but I don't like swimming alone.  I angled back towards the crowd.  I saw a bunch of peeps already standing and wading up on shore.  That just wasn't for me!  I kept my head down and swam (again) until my hand touched the bottom.  Then, I stood up and waded ashore.

The clock read 1:13 and some change. I let out a silent booyah!! My swim goal was 1:20:00, and I had blown that out of the water. With a big smile on my face, I headed up the walk way towards the wet suit strippers, ready, willing, and able to tackle the next segment of this amazing day.