It has begun! My first tri of the season was yesterday, May 15th at Marineland Beach in St. Augustine. My season was supposed to have started last month with a sprint in the same location, but a little stubbed-toe damage put me on hold. On the road to my half-iron in July, I really wanted to have a sprint and olympic under my belt this season, but I guess it wasn't in the plan.
So yesterday's was an olympic with an ocean swim...a distance I've never done in the ocean. I really wasn't nervous about it until I was watching the news two days prior to see a report of a swimmer in Ponte Vedra having been bitten by a shark. That led me to look up other info. regarding sharks and swimming in the area, and that didn't make me feel any better. I ended up thinking I might just do the duathlon instead, and save my triathlons for safer, lake swims. I almost had myself convinced of chickening out, but I didn't.
Here's the play by play:
Packet Pick-up:
I couldn't wait to see the actual course in the hopes that it would calm my fears. When we got there, the buoys were not up, so all I saw was the great expanse of ocean and the waves crashing into the shore...yep, still want to do the duathlon. I checked with the race coordinators who said it wouldn't be a problem to switch, but to wait until the morning because it is always calmer then. They laughed when I mentioned my concern about sharks...hmmm.
Race Morning:
Rick, stephen, and I got there at 6:30 when transition opened. The ocean did not look any more calm than the night before, AND the buoys were still not up...yep, still doing the duathlon. As I was setting up in transition, I hear Rick and Stepehn yelling that there are dolphins swimming out where the buoys are being set up. So I finished setting up without even unpacking my swim stuff ("cause I'm doing the duathlon) and I join them on the rocks. Sure enough a pod of dolphins is "playing" around the buoys...really funny. Rick then said thaat I should do the swim because where there are dolphins, there aren't sharks. I had no idea if this was true, but it gave me some confidence. As I watched them, I became more comfortable with the course, thinking "Well, I can swim that..." then remembering the olympic course is around the loop twice...gulp "Yeah, I can still swim that." So I looked at Rick and stated "I'm going to do it." I headed back to transition to get my swim stuff out and grab my wetsuit.
The swim:
We all started on the beach for one massive wave start. The sprinters wore bright pink caps and the oly's wore green. I looked around and counted only 7 green caps in a sea of pink. Great, I thought. By the time I do my second loop, there will only be 7 of us and I know I will be behind. And don't predators always go for the weakest in the group??? Before I had time to contemplate this more, the horn blew and we were all running straight towards a wall of breaking waves. It was kind of hard getting through the breakers, but there were so many swimmers around me that I wasn't nervous, although I could feel my breathing start to get out of control. I focused on slow, calm, breaths and it worked. Having the wetsuit on along with the buoyancy of the salt water made it easy to swim with my head up so I could spot the waves all the way to the first buoy. I was feeling pretty good as we all rounded the first buoy and began the longest stretch of the course, swimming parallel to the beach. I realized two things were now on my side: we were now swimming with the current and my breathing side was facing shore. I began to settle into my normal swimming/breathing pace knowing I wouldn't be hit in the face with a wave all while being pulled along by the current. Nice. Furthermore...I was still in the middle of the group where I felt nice and safe. There were even a couple of green caps swimming by me, so I was hopeful we'd be together on the second loop too. I also noticed that the dude swimming on my left was doing the breast stroke. This was fantastic, because it meant he could see the buoys the whole time, which meant if I kept my eye on him during each breath, I wouldn't have to look up to sight the buoy very often. Thanks, dude. I can honestly say that by this point I was enjoying the swim and had no fears at all. After rounding the third bouy, things got a bit tougher because we weren't swimming directly with the current, and were approaching the breakers again. They were so strong that they rolled me over a couple of times and I bgan to feel dizzy and a little sea sick.
I finally reached the 4th buoy where I could actually stand and walk. Here, the sprinters ran out of the water and up the beach to get on the bike. The rest of us green cappers had to round the bouy and head out to the breakers again, but this time from an angle. We were now fighting the strong current AND breakers that seemed a lot bigger this time around. I caught my breath for a few seconds and followed a green cap guy out toward the waves. I kept diving through the waves, getting pushed back with each one when I realized something...I was all alone! The waves were so high I couldn't see the bouys, green caps,or the lifeguards paddling around, nor could I see the shore. I didn't even know if I was on course because of the current. Then I began hearing all of these strange squeaking and whistling noises in my ears...but no one was around me. At first I thought that it must be my swim cap rubbing against the back of my wetsuit. But I still heard them when my head was down and they seemed to be coming from all over. That was it! I immediately turned around in the directions that the waves were pushing and hauled my but as fast as I could toward shore. I imagined dolphins popping up beside me and it freaked me out. I kept chanting "Get away, get away, get away..." as I swam in, probably looking like a fool for going the wrong way. When I finally felt sand under my feet, I felt a rush of relief. I really hated the feeling of defeat, but I was done with that water and any dolphins that may have been around laughing at me.
Running up the beach I passed Rick and told him and the race director I was still going to finish the race. The director said I should just do the sprint so I could get an official time.
The Bike:
This was pretty uneventful. It was straight and flat. I decided on the bike that I would continue on and do the oly distances for the bike and run. This was supposed to help me in my training for the half iron, so just doing the sprint wouldn't do me any good. So I was now disqualified, but finishing the race anyway. I ended up averaging 18.4 on the bike which was my new PR for an oly, so that made me happy.
The Run:
Again, uneventful. Straight, flat and 2 loops of the course and I was done. I got lots of admiring looks from people who thought that I was really fast (not knowing that I had only done half of the swim). I came into the finish with the top oly men...haha, this will never happen again. I forgot to set my watch, so I don't know my time, but it was a good training brick, anyway.
So that was it. Of course now I have to do the race again next year so I can actually finish the whole swim. Maybe by then I'll be more comfortable with the ocean and dolphins!!
Good news: The half-iron is in NY in a LAKE. Stepehn now wants to train for a triathlon...yay!!
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