my first tri…wanna know my time?!?
a lot has happened since my last post.
i found my balance in the water. my coach, andrea, always tells me to think of going over a barrel and my hands going into holes and pulling my body forward. what i’ve changed significantly, however, was RELAXING my kick and only doing so much to keep them up. OH…wait…i gotta give andrea awesome credit for correcting my form in the water for numerous things, but in particular keeping my arms from crossing over in the water. but, in general, the good thing is that i can swim lengths of the pool without my legs hitting the pool floor any longer. i think by the end of last week, i was coasting through the water doing 50s in just a touch over 1 minute. that’s huge! i remember telling coach andrea, “remember when i couldn’t do this AT ALL?!?” i’ve come a long way. i remember fighting to get to one of the pool, stopping several times before getting there!
i’ve also changed coaches. my new coach is mike thomson of fast & fit coaching in chicago. dan of vision quest coaching, where i’m a proud member, was GREAT, but we didn’t have the best chemistry so i had to make a change. mike has tackled my nutrition, running form etc. i get a good amount of one-on-one time that has been priceless!
and then i make it to my first TRI here in galena, il. it took place yesterday and was a “simple” sprint distance.
luckily, i had andrea, senorita swim coach, to help me setup my transition areas. and, she was kind enough to help get me in my wetsuit and keep me calm before i entered the water…which was to become my FIRST open water swim!
so, the event…
i was in wave 4, going off at 9:09am. i slipped into my longsleeve wetsuit and immediately started sweating bullets because it was so warm. but, i’d be getting in the cold lake soon anyway, right? right!
3-2-1…HONK! TIME! TO! GO!
i stayed to the back of my wave to avoid being kicked in the face at all costs. and took my time getting into the water. but, before you knew it i started swimming freestyle. it was TOTALLY new…when i looked down, there was no line. there was no tile. there was no ‘bottom floor’ that i could see. instead, there was a lot of green stuff flying around. no big deal, right? NO! i kept going. i wanted to be sure i wasn’t going the wrong way so i kept checking. i didn’t want to go too far out. i didn’t want to cut in. i wanted to be JUST right! I THOUGHT i was the last one to get in…but, i had actually passed some people…GO ME!
i got around the first buoy…had i thought about my options and what was about to happen, i would’ve grabbed it and hung out for a while.
i noticed my wave pretty far ahead. so, mentally, i started to think that i needed to catch up. instead, i should’ve been thinking…just take a break by going to your back if needed and it doesn’t matter if you don’t catch them. it’s your FIRST time in open water. just go to your back and relax.
well, i went to my back once. but, for some reason, i didn’t stay there and relax. i immediately flipped back over and tried to swim freestyle again.
panic started.
i went to my back AGAIN.
i freaked.
“HELP!”
i go under the water.
“HELP!”
another swimmer leisurely on his back asks me if i need help. i say yes, so he gets it for me. the universal sign of hand up just made me sink. so, i’m glad he was there.
the boat and kayak came to my rescue.
i was thinking irrationally at the time and thought they MIGHT give me the option to hold on and take a quick break. instead, they proceeded to pull me out of the water.
i sat on the boat, ripped off my cap, and started to cry, yell 4 letter words, and announce that it was my first race,
i was embarrassed and disappointed with myself.. i hoped that nobody saw me from the shore line.
“great!” i thought,”…now i get to ride a bus to the finish line.”
i walked back to the shore with my head hung low. i was embarrassed. i was pissed. i was disappointed. my day was done.
after i calmed down a bit, i decided that i could still get a workout in so i proceeded to do the bike and run. and, i did decently on those disciplines on what was a very HOT and sunny day.
… ….
so, you wanna know my time? duh! it’s officially a DQ. that’s really eating at me. and i can’t help but think that i’m a failure, a wuss, weak, a quitter…
but, when i take a step back…i remind myself that i have an awesome coach overseeing my training and a great swim coach as well. and, they’re determined and confident that i can swim and just need to get comfy in open water. so, i’ll believe them. and, i’ll do my best to put out the thoughts in my head of dropping out of my goal half and full ironman distances this year. i’ll save the duathlon thing for when i’m REALLY sick of swimming. for now, i’ll try to conquer it!
i’ll get over the “debbie downer” symptoms shortly…but, that’s where most of me is right now. i’ll snap out of it soon.
catchya next time!
Westley are discussing. 
What was it? Are you ok now?