Finally the start was less than a minute away and as the announcer yelled out for us to “have the best day of your life” the cynic in me doubted that would be the case, then the cannon went off and I held steady and watched along with the rest of the crowd the most amazing site (see the video below). At that moment, for the first time, I actually felt more excited than afraid to be a part of all this.
The Swim
As a slow, novice swimmer, I’d been advised to hang back at the start … as much as 3 to 5 minutes if I had to just to avoid the fray. So I watched a bit and then realized there weren’t a whole lot of people around me, and at my pace it wasn’t like I’d catch up to the scrum and I’d already avoided the worst of it. After about 30 seconds I decided it was time to go - I still had about 100 yards before I hit the actual start line, but that was ok, because above all I felt confident and relaxed – which honestly is somewhat unbelievable since the swim start was definitely a part of the Ironman that I feared most. And I mean it, 6 months ago I’d watch YouTube Videos of various Ironman swim starts and get so anxious that by the time the 2 minute clip was over I’d be in tears and swearing at myself for ever entering this contest in the first place.
The actual swim was pretty uneventful – I got clocked pretty good in the eye about a minute after I crossed the start line – it hurt and took my breath away, but it wasn’t like I was going to quit then and there, so I took a deep breath and got down to business – although I did make a point to try to protect my head by keeping my hands/arms out front as I should be doing anyway. For the first length down I stayed to the far right of the buoy line to avoid the congestion but tried to stay close to other swimmers and gradually worked my way back to the line (for those unfamiliar with the LP swim, the IM course buoy line lies along a cable system about 5 or 6 feet below the surface that is used to mark the lane lines for the kayak races that are regularly held in Mirror Lake). By about ¾ of the way down I made my way towards the line and could catch glimpses of the cable so I didn’t have to do much spotting. It didn’t feel crowded to me and I settled in and tried to pick up my pace to a quick yet comfortable stroke. At the first far turn I glanced at my watch for the first time and I think I was at about 22 minutes. If I could maintain my pace I should be able to finish in 1:45. Going into the race I had been very concerned with the 2:20 swim cutoff, after some training in LP over the 4th of July I was less concerned about the cutoff and figured I should be able to do it in 2 hours, maybe a little less. By race day my goal was to do the swim and be out of T1 and on the bike within 2 hours.
Coming in for the first lap was pretty relaxed, occasionally I caught myself thinking about the fact that I was indeed DOING an Ironman triathlon and actually smiled to myself. I know I’d thought many times “if I can just make it out of the water, I can finish” and I was doing what I’d feared most, the rest of the day would be a breeze! In hindsight, I realize how optimistic and unrealistic those thoughts were, but more on that later.
I had about 1 buoy to go in the first lap and then maybe another100 yards or so to exit the water before starting the second lap and as I’m taking a breath and looking to my right – towards the shoreline – I see about a half dozen yellow caps streak by me – I just got lapped by the pros as they FINISH their swim! I actually took a bit of satisfaction that I was as far as I was on the first lap.
When I make my way to the huge inflatable exit arch I stand up to make my way out of the water and am totally miffed by the fact that it’s pouring rain …while I was swimming I never noticed and was totally surprised by it – sorry, just a weird random thought. I loop around the dock and head back out for the second loop, following the lead of those ahead of me and taking a minute or so to just walk back in and use the time for a bit of recovery. The second loop was entirely unremarkable but for the fact that I was doing an IRONMAN!!! Now and then there were a few people swimming into me or using me to body surf – what the hell? I pay more attention to the sky – wishing it blue for the bike so I can use the down hills to my advantage and consciously try to figure out if it’s raining or not. The cool thing is I never feel that tired or bored – not like I always did when training – probably a sign I wasn’t pushing it hard enough, but my goal really was just to survive the swim. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I did, truly enjoy the swim – as I should’ve, it would by far be the best and easiest part of the day for me …
The Swim
As a slow, novice swimmer, I’d been advised to hang back at the start … as much as 3 to 5 minutes if I had to just to avoid the fray. So I watched a bit and then realized there weren’t a whole lot of people around me, and at my pace it wasn’t like I’d catch up to the scrum and I’d already avoided the worst of it. After about 30 seconds I decided it was time to go - I still had about 100 yards before I hit the actual start line, but that was ok, because above all I felt confident and relaxed – which honestly is somewhat unbelievable since the swim start was definitely a part of the Ironman that I feared most. And I mean it, 6 months ago I’d watch YouTube Videos of various Ironman swim starts and get so anxious that by the time the 2 minute clip was over I’d be in tears and swearing at myself for ever entering this contest in the first place.
The actual swim was pretty uneventful – I got clocked pretty good in the eye about a minute after I crossed the start line – it hurt and took my breath away, but it wasn’t like I was going to quit then and there, so I took a deep breath and got down to business – although I did make a point to try to protect my head by keeping my hands/arms out front as I should be doing anyway. For the first length down I stayed to the far right of the buoy line to avoid the congestion but tried to stay close to other swimmers and gradually worked my way back to the line (for those unfamiliar with the LP swim, the IM course buoy line lies along a cable system about 5 or 6 feet below the surface that is used to mark the lane lines for the kayak races that are regularly held in Mirror Lake). By about ¾ of the way down I made my way towards the line and could catch glimpses of the cable so I didn’t have to do much spotting. It didn’t feel crowded to me and I settled in and tried to pick up my pace to a quick yet comfortable stroke. At the first far turn I glanced at my watch for the first time and I think I was at about 22 minutes. If I could maintain my pace I should be able to finish in 1:45. Going into the race I had been very concerned with the 2:20 swim cutoff, after some training in LP over the 4th of July I was less concerned about the cutoff and figured I should be able to do it in 2 hours, maybe a little less. By race day my goal was to do the swim and be out of T1 and on the bike within 2 hours.Coming in for the first lap was pretty relaxed, occasionally I caught myself thinking about the fact that I was indeed DOING an Ironman triathlon and actually smiled to myself. I know I’d thought many times “if I can just make it out of the water, I can finish” and I was doing what I’d feared most, the rest of the day would be a breeze! In hindsight, I realize how optimistic and unrealistic those thoughts were, but more on that later.
I had about 1 buoy to go in the first lap and then maybe another100 yards or so to exit the water before starting the second lap and as I’m taking a breath and looking to my right – towards the shoreline – I see about a half dozen yellow caps streak by me – I just got lapped by the pros as they FINISH their swim! I actually took a bit of satisfaction that I was as far as I was on the first lap.
When I make my way to the huge inflatable exit arch I stand up to make my way out of the water and am totally miffed by the fact that it’s pouring rain …while I was swimming I never noticed and was totally surprised by it – sorry, just a weird random thought. I loop around the dock and head back out for the second loop, following the lead of those ahead of me and taking a minute or so to just walk back in and use the time for a bit of recovery. The second loop was entirely unremarkable but for the fact that I was doing an IRONMAN!!! Now and then there were a few people swimming into me or using me to body surf – what the hell? I pay more attention to the sky – wishing it blue for the bike so I can use the down hills to my advantage and consciously try to figure out if it’s raining or not. The cool thing is I never feel that tired or bored – not like I always did when training – probably a sign I wasn’t pushing it hard enough, but my goal really was just to survive the swim. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I did, truly enjoy the swim – as I should’ve, it would by far be the best and easiest part of the day for me …
As I’m coming in on the second lap, for the first time I noticed the big screen tv/scoreboard thing at the end of Mirror Lake and am amazed by the fact that I’m part of such a huge event.
When I exit the water I really was elated. I can’t believe I did that and the clock showed an hour thirty-something, I wasn’t sure if it was on the pro time or not, but either way I’d beaten what I thought would be my best possible time.
When I exit the water I really was elated. I can’t believe I did that and the clock showed an hour thirty-something, I wasn’t sure if it was on the pro time or not, but either way I’d beaten what I thought would be my best possible time.
Here’s a second shout out to the volunteers – the guy that tore my wetsuit off did it like a pro – Thank You!
I was having trouble getting my arms out and as I stepped up to him he took about 1 second to assess where I was in the process, grabbed the shoulders of the suit and pulled it down to my waist. As soon as my arms were out he told me to sit down and 5 seconds later my wetsuit was over my shoulder and I was on my way to transition … YAY!! now I get to ride my bike!
I was having trouble getting my arms out and as I stepped up to him he took about 1 second to assess where I was in the process, grabbed the shoulders of the suit and pulled it down to my waist. As soon as my arms were out he told me to sit down and 5 seconds later my wetsuit was over my shoulder and I was on my way to transition … YAY!! now I get to ride my bike!
Transition note: keep cap and goggles on until after the wetsuit is off, otherwise they might get caught in the sleeve – and at the last race I thought I’d just leave them in the sleeve but ended up losing my goggles on the run to transition.
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