I know it has been a while since I told you I would expand on my
biking and
swimming two weekends ago, but I could not bear to do any thinking that was not required until now and time simply slipped away. Life without school has been pretty amazing. No homework, no class, no stress. This is the first time in almost 20 years I no longer have school to schedule my life around. It is a weird sense of freedom and I almost don't know what to do with myself. Almost. I had no problem lounging around last weekend letting my brain recover from the trying semester. I honestly think school broke it a bit, but never fear, I am on the road to recovery. I had planned to relax the weekend before, my first weekend free of school, as well but I realized a few days before that had I signed up for a full weekend of races a few months prior. So, I readjusted my relaxation schedule and pumped myself up for some biking and swimming. I guess I know what I will be doing with all my free time - training for race season.
Saturday morning came quickly and I packed up my bike and gear and headed to Rockville for the
Tour de Cookie. Sounds awesome right, I mean the word cookie is in the name of the event. Well, it was as awesome as it sounded. The Tour de Cookie is an organized bike ride with cookie stand stops along the way. The ride was organized to raise money for The Tree House Child Assessment Center, an organization that helps child victims of abuse in Montgomery County. There is a 12-mile route and a 40-mile route. I was planning on doing the 12-mile route with some friends and family, but they all bailed, so the night before I decided to man up and do the 40-mile route in hopes of meeting some fun people along the way, and of course in the excitement of having four extra cookie stops.
Lucky for me, some people are way more outgoing then I am. A friendly lady began talking to me as we unpacked our gear from our cars and I was quickly invited to join her and her bike group, NOVA-CBG for the ride. Everyone was so wonderful and fun. We rolled up to the start line and awaited the shout to begin. I was prepared for a long scenic ride, but I was not prepared for the massive hills I would encounter less then 5 miles into the trip. I had been reassured that the majority of the route was flat and on a trail. The person I had talked to must have thought I meant the 12-mile route because boy were they wrong! There were some awesome downhills but there were some mighty uphills as a result, as they say, what goes down must go up.
One of my favorite moments was when one of the group members commented to me, "I hope this isn't a mistake..." as he passed going 35 mph downhill. Of course it was a slight mistake, but at least we were rewarded with a festive cookie stand shortly after. I was grateful for each and every cookie stand. It was nice to break up the trip, and it was great seeing the decorations and costumes that people made to support us. I think my favorite was the giant chocolate chip cookie, but there really were so many great stands that it is hard to choose. One stand even offered to hold our bikes as they handed us water and cookies as we rode to them; they were very cute girl scouts.
Although I was not pleased with the large amount of surprise hills, it made it that much better when I finished. I was pumped to have completed a 40-mile ride, the first of the season, and meet a few awesome people who I can ride with in the future. I happily wore my medal around my neck until I got home and devoured my cookies. I could not bring myself to eat the cookies at 9:30 in the morning, especially with all of the riding I was doing, so I stored a cookie from each stand in my bag for later. I made out like a bandit and enjoyed eating them (Brenden, my mom, and I tested each one, ranking our favorites - yes I did try 15 different cookies in one sitting) all with my legs up as I rested them for Sundays adventure.
Unfortunately there were no cookies in sight on Sunday, although I think I had enough to last me a few months. It was another early morning as I drove to meet Cindy and her sister in Annapolis. I was super lucky in the fact that Cindy was awesome enough to let me carpool with her to the
Nanticoke River Swim & Triathlon. It was a far drive and I had never been there before, this was Cindy's fourth time completing this race so I was sure we would not get lost and happy to have that stress factor removed.
I was excited to be competing in this race for a few of reasons. It would be my first open water swim (not including triathlons), I would get to test out the wetsuit I bought at the end of last season and prepare myself for using it during triathlons this year, and I would get to compete in a race with a bunch of people I see on a weekly basis. I was not excited that the water seemed to be colder then usual due the unusually cold and long winter this year. Although I was fearful of the cold, I was pumped that it was a beautiful day.
When we got to the river we set our stuff down and I got tips on the swim. I chose to do the shorter distance, 1.8 miles and Cindy showed me the course buoys. It didn't look too bad...from the land. I also got tips on how to swim with the current from Cindy and Reg. We then watched the youth triathlon, adorable. These kids gave me the courage to get in the cold, cold water. Some of them weren't even wearing wetsuits, and it could not have been more then 64 degrees! That is cold when talking about water. When the youth tri got out of the water, the inevitable came and it was time for us to get our wetsuits on, warmup (which for me consisted of walking to the shore until my feet hit the water and turning back around), and then compete.
The 3-mile swimmers started first. After they began their swim the 2-milers were instructed to get into the water and prepare to start. I slowly inched my way in, telling myself it wasn't so bad, and honestly it was not as awful as I thought it would be, especially after my feet and arms went numb and I could not feel them anymore. I headed to the front, middle of the pack but far enough away that I would have room. A man came up next to me and gave me some final "reassuring" words, "If there are any four letter words you don't like to use, just wait until you get passed the jetty, you will be using them...you haven't seen anything yet." Thanks for that dose of confidence dude. And we were off.
I tried to get into a rhythm from the start, get in my head and worry only about myself. My goal was just to finish and get practice with open water swims and wetsuit use. I was doing well and was suprised that it seemed as if I was toward the front of the pack as I reached the end of the jetty. Right turn. Still doing good. I was told this portion would be against the current but I seemed to be able to ride some of the waves. Then I began passing people in white caps (3-mile swimmers), I was shocked and thrilled at the same time, I never thought that would happen and was actually anticipating the moment when Cindy and Reg would lap me (the 3-mile swim consists of swimming past the jetty and around a triangle twice will the 2-mile only does one lap around the triangle) and I could follow in their path.
I was feeling good. And then I turned left, onto the second leg of the triangle. My confidence slowly faded. The waves seemed to be getting bigger, and my ability to direct myself seemed to be getting worse. As much as I tried to swim on a straight diagonal to the next buoy I could not. I tried remembering the tips Cindy and Reg gave me but it just wasn't working; there was nothing to line up with and all of a sudden there was no one around me. I couldn't see anything unless I took off my goggles, and I had to do a lot of breast stroking in place to reorient myself. I finally thought I was making progress when I met up with another swimmer who then told me I had to go right. "Oh no," I thought. So I began going more right. But then I saw other swimmers going more left. I realized the first swimmer was aiming toward the sighting buoy rather then the one we are required to turn around. I again altered my path and was feeling good. I looked up again and was near the buoy but way to the left. I had to back track to make sure I was official and swam around the marker. I guess that is why the first swimmer advised me to go right...damn current.
At this point I was thrilled I had gone with my coaches advisement of swimming the 2-mile course rather then the 3. I am pretty sure I swam at least 3-miles with all my back tracking. I finally got to the second buoy and made a tight turn. I swam out a bit and stopped to orient myself. I spotted the buoys into the jetty and was determined to conquer the current on this length. 10 strokes; doing good. A quarter of the way; right on track. Halfway there; perfect. Three quarters down; the buoys look way closer on land, but almost there. Then I looked up and I had no idea where I was. As quickly as my confidence had been built up again did it vanish. I began to panic. I was way, way to the left...again. And as much as I stroked it did not seem like I was making any progress. I began to freak out, thinking I would be lost at sea with no lifeguards able to find me; I began remembering all those awful river creatures discovered on
River Monsters possibly swimming below me (thanks Brenden's family for loving that show...); I began thinking of everything I shouldn't. I eventually finished my little panic attack and swam on and began making progress.
After I was able to swim to the right a bit I realized I was closer to the jetty then I thought and that there was a lifeguard probably 10 feet away asking if I was ok. Silly me. I double checked with him that I was heading in the correct direction for the finish and went on my way. Soon I was back in the safety of the jetty, relief filled my mind and I could all of a sudden feel the tiredness of my body that I had ignored while I was preoccupied with navigation and movement. I made one final effort to swim the distance of the jetty to the finish line. I was feeling accomplished that I finished and did not give up even though I was sure I was one of the last people to come out of the water after all of my confusion. I reached the shore and my hand hit the sand at bottom. I took this as my time to stand and try to run the rest of the way in. It was such a weird sensation, standing. I felt as if I had just gotten off of a week long cruise. My body was not steady and was wobbling every where. I succumbed to walking rather then running in a zigzag line up the shore, stubbing and tearing my toes on the way, but at least I was done.
I was greeted with a medal that is also a bottle opener, some fresh water, and help unzipping my wetsuit. It took me a while to catch my breath, realize what was happening, and notice that the swimmers pavilion was empty. Was everyone getting food already? I asked a volunteer at the finish how many people had come out of the water. They responded about 10. 10, what?! I was confused, I had seen people with white caps finish ahead of me. All I could do was wait for the results.
I watched my fellow teammates finish and congratulated them. When we were all done we changed and head over for some well-deserved and delicious picnic food and awaited the awards. Not only did I make my primary goal of finishing, and my secondary goal of placing in my age group, but I ended up getting 1st overall female out of 24 in the 2-mile swim distance. And, 4th out of 43 overall male & female. I was ecstatic. It turned out that there were several people who decided to end their 3-mile swim early, and those are the people I saw finishing before me. Cindy got first in her age group and perhaps placed overall as well, again there was some confusion with who stopped early. Becky, her sister got third in her age group. Reg, Jaimie, and Bart also placed in there age groups, and Michelle placed first overall female in the triathlon. A clean sweep for
Columbia Masters Swimming, woot! It was a great day, and it felt amazing to surpass my goals and surprise myself. I could not have asked for a better way to end an awesome first weekend free of school.
