this ride at 6:30 or so. Nice and calm then. No, I had to start at 9:30 and finish at 12:30. 3hrs was all I had to give today - 58 miles of fun in the sun!This is gonna take some getting used to. And just when I do, I'll be going to Idaho where the high will likely be 80. Water Temps in the low 50's.
Which reminds me. Yesterday I had the pleasure of doing the Hurricane Man Swim - 2.4 mile point to point swim in the Gulf of Mexico. Water was 79 degrees. Winds were steady, 10 mph, giving us a 2 to 4 foot chop.
So I'm thinking 2-4 feet, no big deal, right? Well, 2.4 miles in that crap makes for an upset
stomach to say the least. Why anyone would want to suck down 2.4 miles of sea water is beyond me. Note to self: IM Florida, um...no thanks.My intention yesterday was to swim it at a pace I felt comfortable for IM CDA - right? Kind of a practice run. Going point to point is kinda freaky, especially when it's the first time. I could not see the finish from where we started, and even at what I thought was the half way point, I still could not see the finish. Bummer. So I just swam, until finally I could see the little orange ball in the water, which, after seeing took forever to reach, and moseyed up on shore to the lightning quick time of 1:50:20. Yea, I know. (BTW...I beat 2 men and 10 women with that time; the cutoff was 2 hrs.)
Couple of Open Water Ocean Swim Lessons Learnt:
- grease up...salt water under the arms starts to rub raw after a while. Excel Man didn't have problems at all, so it may be a "body type" issue. If you are massive, like the.bigun, then lube up before getting in salt water. If you are puny, like Excel Man, disregard.
- being able to swim bi-lateral was an awesome help, as the non-looping swim kept the waves coming from the right the whole time. If you could only breath to the right, well, you were S.O.L.
- any knots (or bumps) in your goggle strap, if placed under your swim cap, feels like a nail being driven into your head after an hour. In an hour and a half, your ready to tell the world who really shot JFK. Not sure how to fix that....other than to try.
- Once you get salt water up your nose - that's it. Your done. No amount of blowing, squeezing, squinting or swallowing will get that burn our of your sinuses. Maybe those gay looking nose plugs aren't such a bad idea after all....
So after this "race", The.Bigun, Excel Man (1:32:27) and Huah Ben (1:28:10) went to the Hurricane Grill for their post-race breakfast buffet. Bleahch! The race was well organized, with shuttles to the start (do ya think we walked 2.4 miles in bare feet on the beach?), kayakers along the way, diesel-spewing police boat off shore, water and Gatorade at the finish line, good check-in and timing, but that breakfast was pretty dang rough. TriSherpaDi and GEL were at a different race doing kayak support (yea, they were having a tri-affair) so there aren't any pictures of this colossal achievement in aquatic endeavors. Nor was there any cowbell. Pout.
16 comments:
I'm sorry I wasn't there with the cowbell for you pooky kins, I was busy for 2 & half hours keeping little tikes from drowning in their first Tri.
Your ocean swim lessons are both useful and amusing, I laughed out loud!
Salt water in your nose? Riding at 6:30 to avoid 90 degree training rides?
You may not have snow, but that sure doesn't sound like much of a "cozy" year-round training ground to me.
Nice swim Bigun.
Saline solution up the nose makes for clear sinus cavities on the bike ride! (snort!)
Good job on the workouts this weekend.
We have "breezy" weather too. That's what the weather people are calling it. It's downright damn windy.
You make openwater ocean swimming sound simply irristable! Then again, maybe I'll stick to fresh water.
Oh, and I'm wishing our damn wind to just get over it already and head east, sorry about that but apparently there is still plenty more lurking even further west than I am.
Nose plugs might be "gay" looking as you say but I just absolutely need them in chlorine too!
I don't think I'll ever do an ocean IM either. Wisconsin, CDA, Lake Placid, all good enough for me!
You're certainly glutton for punishment. Sea swims aint a lot of fun. I'm glad my half this year is in a lake. Much more civilised.
Puny sounds so derogatory. I prefer ectomorph (Ectomorph: characterized by long and thin muscles/limbs and low fat storage; usually referred to as slim).
Great racing with you again!
Nice swim!
Luuuuuuuube.
Dude, I loathe the wind. Nytro on the other hand lurves it as it got her out of a swim this weekend.
Good swim!! I'm jealous you've done the distance in open water. Salt and all. Me not so much.
I am opposed to all forms of chop, especially in salt water. That and the fact that three people have died in the last two years is certainly no reason to refrain from doing IMFL, is it?
I have never needed lube . . .
for a swim that is.
Di call you pooky?
Pukey.
Swimming in the gulf that far w/o wetsuit is a massive feat in my book. Which is why, even if I could, I never would do Kona.
Sounds like what we had at Gulf Coast Tri this weekend. I would never make it without ear plugs, ginger pills, and Bonine (motion sickness meds). One guy didn't :-(
Makes me realise how lucky I was with IM FLA last year. MIll pond flatness.
A point to point 2.4 mile swim in the gulf? What about sharks?!?!? That's way too much ground to have to cover when you know you're swimming in their territory. IMFL with it's 2 loop 1.2 mile course - sure....but a point to point - No effin' way.
If you can do that IMFL would be a breeze!
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