after what seemed like forever, it was time to line up for the swim. i was in the second, and i think the largest, wave. the water temp at 6am was 84 degrees (WHAAAT?!) so absolutely no wetsuits allowed under any circumstances...no big, i'll just doggy paddle if need be....glad i had already come to terms with that!
yea so the water was just as disgusting as i expected. could barely see to the end of my arm and it was a superbly nasty color. swimming in a herd of people is also not so fantastic. thank goodness for the backstroke, it seriously was my best friend. as soon as i saw other girls using that tactic for a few minutes at a time i followed suit. great way to calm down and regain some stamina before getting back into the rhythm of freestyle. great for the time? eh, def not so much, but finishing was the main goal!
guess what, the swim sucked! big time! but i made it, and there was one split second on the way out of the water where i thought 'i'm done, i can't do this', but then i got into the transition and thought...you're a moron, you finished the swim...you ARE doing this, now get on your bike!!!! yea i sat down to put my socks and bike shoes on, yea it killed my first transition time, but it was well worth it. it gave me the break i needed to erase the swim from my mind.
the bike portion was awesome. i felt way better than i imagined. i did drop my water bottle with electrolyte goodness in it about 5 minutes in so i felt like a dork, and it probably didn't help my hydration, but i was in no way the only person down a water bottle. so i kept peddling. i was slow on the hills and probably could've eeked out a few extra mphs in a few spots but was seriously concerned with conserving my energy so i concentrated on staying consistent, and strong, and having fun!
throughout the course i passed my family and friends (yea, some awesome friends got out of bed ridiculously early on a saturday morning to cheer me on too! WOW!!) four times, and it was such a surge of energy every time i saw them. i was so incredibly excited and grateful to have them all there!!!
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2 comments:
yeah the swim water is nasty, and yes i had seconds where i thought "i'm done i quit" but kept going... and yeah i dropped my water bottle during sherox... hahaha
It was worth the bloodshot eyes and experiencing "morning" for the 2nd time this year. You did a fantastic job and deserve a lot of credit for the commitment and resolve you displayed in the training AND the big event. However, if you grow a 3rd ear from swimming in the river, I'm not quite sure it was worth it.
Great job, LZ!
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