Journey Undefined

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.

I have two happy experiences today and I can't decide which to post about, so I will just tell you about both.

Today I was brave enough and motivated enough to sign up, attend, and complete the Columbia Pedal and Paddle. In doing so, I met some awesome people to ride with, and got a sense of accomplishment when finishing.

The event was to bike about 45 miles through the neighborhoods of Columbia, and stop at each of the 23 Columba Association outdoor pools and swim a 50 (2-laps). We started around 7:20am and finished around 12:50pm. My bike computer said I rode 45.15 mile with an average speed of 13.7 mph (but don't forget some of that was stopped while swimming at the pool). 

Luckily, the ride was not 45 straight miles, as this is the farthest distance I have ever rode. The distances were divided into about 2-5 mile segments give or take a mile, and in between we would stop at a pool and swim. It was quite interesting because you never really had enough time to dry off between each stop. So, even though I was taking off my shoes, socks, shirt, and helmet to swim, when it came time, I was putting on wet clothes as if I hadn't actually taken them off while in the pool. In fact at one stop I tried leaving my shirt on to save the hassle, but the drag bothered me too much. Although I was thrilled to see the end of the course, and lots of delicious snacks, I am very glad I decided to do the event (not sure if my legs are quite as happy at the moment). It was quite an experience! And, I got some wacky tan lines from my bike shorts, shirt, and kinesiology tape all over my leg.

I was also excited to be able to go on a picnic dinner date at the Lake with my boyfriend. We picked up some food at Wegman's, yum, and drove to the lake, where we set up a blanket and enjoyed our food and each others company before heading back home.