First Triathlon Ponderings, Musings and a Peanut Butter Sandwich

Part 4 of a series. Click here to start.

Swim waves started every four minutes. At 6:16, my group and I made way into the water. I splashed some on my arms, legs and face to get myself used to the temperature. Thank goodness it was warm. I absolutely hate to be cold. With the swim, I had been told it was all about position. You don’t want to be in the middle of the pack as it’s hard to stretch yourself out to swim. You don’t want to be too close to the front and be trampled and swam over. Being in the back could also have complications. In other words—there really was no perfect position to be in to start the swim. There really wasn’t much time to second guess it anyway. My wave had begun.

It was crowded in the water, but not terrible. Once I rounded the first buoy, I had gotten my rhythm down and the crowd had spread out. “I’m doing Hy-Vee, I’m doing Hy-Vee…chanted around and around in my head. It was a beautiful morning for a swim. It felt good. I was having fun.

Before I knew it, I had cornered that omniscient orange buoy that had looked so far away moments earlier when I was standing on the beach. I was in the final stretch. I could hear the loud speaker before I could see the beach and knew I had to be getting close. The sun was blinding in that direction and it really was difficult to see anything. Bam. Felt sand with my hand and I got up and ran the rest of the way through the water. Quick watch check. 31 minutes?! I couldn’t believe it. That was the fastest mile I had ever swum in a lake.

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