Thursday, November 17, 2011

You Wearin' a Cup Under that Wetsuit?

Wait, let me back up a little.  I did two sprint triathlons this past summer.  This is a recap of the swim leg of the first race that I did with my buddy Ann Marie.

The morning of: we all got up bright and early.  After a hearty breakfast we headed downstairs to rack our bikes and warm up (staying at the site of the race is fabulous!)  Ann Marie and I suited up and headed to the water.  We targeted a pole as our distance marker.


The water was c-c-c-cold but clear and beautiful.  We met at the post and then headed back to shore.  I looked up for Ann Marie but couldn't find her!


TriGuy keenly observed the whole thing.

Heh.

I felt I'd had a successful warm-up, the blocked ears no worse for wear, so I was in it to win it hopefully (not) finish (last).

Since Ann Marie is waaay younger than me, we were in different waves.  She was off first and was a tad nervous.


But, she took off and swam like a champ!

Then it was my turn.  I knew it would take a bit to get my groove on, but since the water was clear I could see the bright orange rope that tied down the buoys.  It was like pool swimming; just follow the line!


It was fabulous.

But then about halfway through, I started getting swum over.


And over and over and over again.


For what felt like for EVER. It was the wave behind me overtaking me. I really did try to move off the buoy line but by then there were just people all over. I still kept swimming, even when the guy in front of me decided he'd walk on the rocks rather than swim.


One thing that had been drilled into my head was to swim until your stomach hits the ground. That way when you stand up you're right at the shore, as opposed to wading through several feet of lake, wasting time and energy.

Ta-Da!

Soooo...as I felt the sand coming up to meet me I just stayed down swimming a few more strokes to be safe. I felt the water pushing me a bit and figured that was the tide (lakes totally have tides). I stood up and stumbled out of the water. Turns out those "extra strokes" really just took me beyond the swim exit a good oh, 15 feet.






NEXT POST:  THE BIKE LEG, WHERE EVERYONE INCLUDING AN 11 YEAR OLD GIRL IS FASTER THAN ME


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32 comments:

  1. Pretty sure I would have a panic attack swimming in such conditions!

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  2. The whole people swimming over you thing is what scares me about an triathlon. Can't wait to read about the rest of the race!

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  3. Is that standard practice to swim OVER people? It seems like a jerk move, but if more than one person did it, I don't know.
    Also, I can't put my finger on it, but your drawings of you in the goggles makes me giggle for some reason.

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  4. Lindsay: I just read something about a high incidence of panic attacks during tri swims. I have a wetsuit so I know I'll be ok, a.k.a. floaty.

    runningonwords: yeah, it's an experience, but your adrenaline is going at that point so it's not quite as bad as you'd think.

    Pickleope: Yup it's pretty common. I try to stay out of people's way because I'm slow but the swim can be a huge free-for-all. And the goggle pictures, it's the dorkiness :)

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  5. Love these drawings!

    I totally got swum over (grammar??) multiple times by the same guy at a tri and I stopped and started screaming at him while treading water! I was so frustrated!

    Yay for Seattle tomorrow!! See you soon!

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  6. Ahh I would punch someone for swimming over me and the rock guy. This is why I can't do tris, id still be swimming today :P

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  7. Swimming over seems like it'd feel like waterboarding to me. Pass.

    Can we talk about the picture right after your line "But then about halfway through, I started getting swum over."?
    Cuz I looked at it and thought "wow, guess that's a boy swimmer because she definitely drew a penis on him but why would he be getting a boner in the water??! SWIM RAPE!"

    Then I looked at it for another five minutes and realized it was actually your foot and you were probably kicking him in the balls. Good for you.

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  8. MegO: It's all part of the experience! :D (Not my favourite part though)

    Gia: I think I can now offer that drawing to psychologists as a new Rorshach test! It was totally by accident that I drew it that way and didn't realize until I was finished. Or maybe it was subliminal, since no one likes being swum over anyway.

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  9. Erika: It is super annoying and I'm impressed that you said something! I'm a giant wuss and just whine about these things after the fact.

    I think you're going to have a great time here--it's so pretty downtown and there's lots to do! Hope we can beet up!

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  10. Geez you are hard core. I really like the idea of a triathlon, as long as it didn't contain the swimming or the running bits.

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  11. Cranface: Anyone can swim in a wetsuit :) Once you get past the panicking of being stuffed into it. And the run? Pshaw. You can always walk if you're not a runner.

    Erika: By 'beet up' I totally mean *meet* up. I must have been thinking about you telling that swimmer off :)

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  12. After reading the comments above me, I totally spent too much time looking for the foot-penis. (It's okay, I found it.)

    Love the drawings, and all this hardcore swimming (and being swum OVER?!) makes my 20-minutes-in-the-uni-pool look mega lame. :)

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  13. I was completely sucked in by your title. Btw better passed by 11 yo than 80 yo.

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  14. Oh my goodness - I've been wanting to try a Triathlon, but have always been most nervous about the swimming part...and you just confirmed that fear! :)

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  15. smallgirl: This post has really taken an unexpected turn :P I bet people whack you in the pool from time to time as well...no? Just me?

    Allie: Thanks! Well, there are 80 year olds who do the Ironman, so they are easily faster than me too :D

    Nicole: If you live in a place where the water is less than 80 degrees (or something close) you can wear a wetsuit, which keeps you warm and buoyant. I still don't have great swimming stamina so that is a must for me, plus I don't panic if people start gettin' in my space!

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  16. When I watch triathlons I'm always amazed at the amount of contact that takes place in the swimming. Great post! Over from Comment Love Sunday! Hope you had a great weekend.

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  17. Ross: Yeah, it's worse than water polo sometimes! Thanks for coming by :)

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  18. That would annoy me sooo much! I would yank their foot back when they went by, um, over me! :) And walking in the swimming part, who are these people?! Can't wait to see the rest!

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  19. Still way more athletic than I can ever hope to be. :P

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  20. Texa: You would fit right in :D

    DWei: You'd be amazed at what your body can adapt to.

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  21. LOVE the awesome recap..especially the part about the walking guy. Someone needs to tell those people that walking = not faster. At all. And really you just slow everyone else down with you.

    Okay...I feel like despite the being "swum" over (as I think we've decided grammar-wise), this was really a shining moment for you, because those people swimming over you were the crazy super-fast freaks, and you were doing ridiculously good. And although you didn't mention it, (thank you), when the race started, I continued to swim the wrong directions as in the mentioned warm-up. You are pretty much awesome.

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  22. Good = well. And I call myself a Speech Therapist.

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  23. Ann Marie: I forgot that you swam a little askew at the start :) And, I was quite slow but I swam pretty much the whole time so you're right, that was pretty awesome of me :)

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  24. im not really an athletic person, so im here for the drawings haha

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  25. Glad you're here :) As you can see I'm not especially athletic myself.

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