Sunday, October 21, 2007

Swim Thoughts

Well, it's raining...jeesh I can barely see the first turn! What color is that, orange? Ok... shoot - from down at the water line, I can't see shit! These tinted goggles don't help much. Well, that tree line across the lake stops just to the right of the buoy...ok, I'll use that. Here we go! This lake is pretty shallow - I'm still walking; hey, there goes Curt swimming...still walking, ok, lets go! Wow, this is one BLACK lake!

Find your rhythm now...I can't breath. This wetsuit must have shrank two sizes, or I've gotten huge...feels so tight. C'mon, find your rhythm...you're gonna have to slow down, your breathing too hard. Can't breath in...this suit is so tight...

Ow! What was that? Damn, that's gonna leave a mark - kicked me right in the lip, not two hundred meters off shore. Well, keep going...sight, you're still ok, damn wetsuit - you should have not worn it. Can't breathe. What is going on? Ok, side stroke for a few, catch your breath. There go a few more past me. Turn over, slow down. Crap, if I slow down any more, I'll be swimming backwards! Just swim within yourself, and find that rhythm. Sight. Don't worry, you'll fall into a rhythm soon.

Sight....and there they go. All those green caps, I can hardly see them now. So much for a good swim today. A little bit farther to the first turn. What was that? Where's she going?

Hey....Hey! It's that way! Jeesh, now I'm swimming with all the crazies! What the...?

Hey (point and gesture with arm) - that way! Crap, she swam across me again!

Great, the turn, finally! Lots of yellow caps now - could the full distance guys be passing me, really? These waves are pushing me in, crap, I'm going the wrong way again, turn right! Sight. Again with the swimming left - c'mon man! Ok, past another buoy. Here's another yellow buoy - what...is this the turn...guess so, thanks for the punch, there, fella - that's weird, one turn orange, the next yellow.

Ahhh, waves pushing us in now, still every one's passing me. I can see the shore. Just keep moving forward. You never did find a rhythm did you? Every one's way ahead of you - I'll bet this took an hour. Sight - what was that? Another green cap?!? NO WAY! Well, I'm not the only one, I guess. I can't wait for this swim to be done, just a little farther. Was that...yes, fingers on sand - now stand up...ugh! Man I'm off balance....run...ok, walk fast. Hey, there's Diana...what? Yea, I'm ok. - jeesh, was I that slow? I guess Curt's way ahead of me...maybe you can catch him on the bike. Strippers....ah....love the strippers. Thank you very much! Now get on that bike and salvage this race.

This was the start of this weekends' Florida Challenge Half IM Distance Tri, held here in Clermont, Florida. My swim time was 48:28 on a 40 min goal. 9th Clyde out of the water - the Clyde who finished the race first was 6 min ahead of me. Out of 246 men that finished the race...my swim put me at 206th. It was a rough one for the Bigun.

edit: Never fear - this is not a "three event, three report race report - just got that all out before I forgot...

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Did it leave a mark???

Bigun, this was a wonderful swim report. Sorry the swim wasn't as fine. But I'm lookin' forward to reading about the bike and run.

Dan Seifring aka "OBRATS" said...

I'll be waiting patiently for the rest of the report. I am sure it gets better. (fingers crossed)

Dr. Iron TriFeist :) said...

You looked kinda spry at the end. Glad to know you recovered from the swim.

I swear those lakes look like the darkest Tea known to man.

Unknown said...

Sounds like you were swimmin in a washing machine dude.
Waiting patiently for the rest of the tale.

bigmike600 said...

I got a feeling you did better than you lead us to believe. Doing stuff other than running in the rain would bite.
Looking forward to the rest of the story.

School bus...School bus...School bus...School bus....School bus.

S. Baboo said...

What's up with the wetsuit?! You haven't become extra-Bigun have you?

I just know you will close the gap on the bike...GO GET'EM!

Podium quest said...

So sorry to hear about your swim. I've had more than my share. So lets hear
about the other events. I bet you did gteat! A bad race for u would be a great
one me. The suspense is killing me! What happened?

FunFitandHappy said...

Sounds like a tough swim...Hope the rest went better....looking forward to reading about the rest of the event, including riding up Sugarloaf

Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom" said...

Great report! Congrats on pushing thru the race after your swim..... that is tough.

My first Olympic Race they messed up the course and it was 2000m. I got out of the water & almost all of the bikes were gone. It was over 50mins. I nearly cried, and quit. a 1500meter swim should have taken me 30mins at that time.... Thankfully I later learned it was 2000m. Still.. way too long!

Tarabay said...

Best swim report ever! Nice job..