Survival of the Wettest - My First Triathlon

Surviving a near death experience always makes for a good remainder of the day. You feel invincible. The little things become special (like breathing) and you appreciate everything (like land). This is probably why I remember enjoying the bike and the run so much on my very first Triathlon. I smiled the entire way thru the bike and felt I was in the clouds during the run! I high-fived anyone and everyone in my path. I was just thankful to be alive! I had survived a near death experience -- my first lake swim.

I signed up solo for my first Sprint Triathlon at 5 Mile Lake in June 2011. I had only had a few training sessions with the local women's Tri Training Group, TriBabes, and hadn't even had the first lake swim practice yet. But, no worries, I had been swimming in a pool for at least 3 months, so felt TOTALLY prepared. I've been doing 20 laps at a time in the pool, and that is waaaaayy over the 1/4 mile distance of this lake swim. No problem-o, right? (queue scary music here)

It was raining that day. Raining! I know it does rain a lot here in Washington, but It's never rained on a race day since! #1Hubs dropped me off and I went to stand in line to get my bib # and timing chip. The race was women only and as I listened to the women chatting, I heard others admit they were also there for the first time (whew). I didn't really understand the necessity of marking a big 5-0 on the back of my leg, but I went along with it. Later, in the bike and the swim, I appreciated seeing the ages of the women I passed on their legs (take that, Ms 35!). But on the other hand, I was also humbled when Ms 60 passed me!

Setting up my transition area for the first time, I must have had NEWBIE written all over me. A nice gal came up and showed me how to rack my bike. She was a TriBabe, sporting a similar pink jersey as I was, although hers was tucked inside her wetsuit. Ahhhh, you wear the jersey under the wetsuit to save time in T1 (the transition between swim and bike). I found out later that it's hard to put a tight bike jersey on when you are wet, so this is a good game plan that I have since followed. I appreciated her tips and her kindness. It helped calm my nerves.

Looking a little too confident, perhaps? 

Before the swim start, I don't remember being extremely nervous. I surveyed the swim course and it looked intimidating, but not overly so. I was most concerned about adjusting my swim goggles so that they wouldn't leak or fog. I did a quick practice swim to make sure they felt ok. And by 'practice swim' I mean I got wet. The lake was cold, but I had my nifty new wetsuit to keep me warm. Let's do this, I thought, I am ready!

When my wave was counted down, I was off to start the swim. I got about 50 yards out into the middle of the lake and couldn't breath. Hmmm...this is an odd feeling, I thought. I'll just breast stroke for a few until I can catch my breath. Another 50 yards went by and I still could not breathe. Well, this is unexpected, I thought again! This never happened to me at the pool! Although there were women all around and passing me, I suddenly felt very alone. As my breath continued to elude me, I felt I was alone in the universe in the middle of a cold, deep, dark, lake. And this was no ordinary lake. This lake was evil! This lake wanted to pull me down into its depths and hold me there. I looked back to shore and contemplated turning back and chucking this stupid, ridiculous, triathlon idea. But I'd gone too far to turn back.

Telling myself to calm the frick down, I flipped over on my back to continue some forward momentum while I still tried to catch my breath. Ahhh, the back stroke, the 'go to' stroke of the panicked swimmer. Head out of the dark water...facing the open sky and able to take in air freely. This will help me regain control, I thought. I'll just continue to backstroke for a while, catch my breath, and soon I will be able to flip back over and ... 'WHOA, WHOA!! WRONG WAY!!', I suddenly heard shouted at me by the swimmer I had just backstroked into. I popped upright, confused for a second, until I realized that I had backstroked in a circle and was headed back to shore -- right into the path of oncoming swimmers! 'Sorry!', I sheepishly said as I resumed the safer breast stroke (in the right direction). I was still not in any condition to resume a freestyle stroke. The thought of putting my head in the evil dark water with visibility of no more than a foot was too scary.

Post swim: WTF just happened?!?

At this point I was close to buoy #1. I yearned for this buoy like a teenager yearns for their first love. When I finally made it to buoy #1, I made love floated with it for a few minutes, relishing every second of our time together. When our relationship waned, I set my sights on buoy #2 as my next conquest. Half way to the buoy #2 I was able to put my face in the water and start really swimming. After reaching buoy #2, I hung with it for a minute before casting it also aside. I swam all the way home, anxious to return to the new love of my life -- no, not #1Hubs, DRY GROUND. <3

Woohoo! I'm alive!

Aside from losing my timing chip when taking off my wetsuit, the rest of the race was uneventful. I don't know my times for this race, and don't really care. You can bet I paid very close attention and attended EVERY swim practice at the lake after that first experience. Scary as the swim was, it was only 1/3 of the race; and I had a blast the other 2/3rds (didn't even bike or run backwards at all!).  I had completed my very first Triathlon without dying! It was a great day!

What's the scariest or funniest thing that's happened to you during the swim portion of a triathlon? Have you ever gone backwards while backstroking? Please tell me I'm not alone!