Kinetic Sprint Relay [Swim]

My first Team Z event!!

I'll tell you, I did NOT want to get out of bed when my alarm went off at 6:00, despite the fact that a) I had gone to bed at a WAY reasonable hour for a Saturday night, and b) this was actually a later-than-normal race start which ordinarily would've required a 5:00 or earlier alarm to drive to the race site morning of.  I felt better though once I got some iced tea in me and started the drive down to Lake Anna.  As I started passing other vehicles with their bikes on racks, I started wishing I had my bike with me so that they knew I was headed the same place - hard to explain, but I love that feeling of camaraderie when traveling to events. I even used to make sure I was wearing Virginia Tech attire when going with Jon to away football games, just for the random rest area stops, so I could feel part of that family.  But I digress...

Now, it might seem a little silly to go through all this effort (early wake up time, long drive) for only a 750m swim, which I was doing as part of a relay, but I really wanted to see what it was like to be part of the team (without having to do the whole thing, especially considering I'd been on a bike all of 3 times in the past few months, and no running).  I knew I'd made the right decision as I parked the jeep and started walking towards the lake.  As soon as any Team Z member spotted my bright green top, they were super friendly, going out of their way to say hello.  Don't get me wrong, in my experience most triathletes are super nice, but this was just above and beyond.  And for someone who thrives on that feeling part of something, it was awesome.  Of course, I get up to the check in area and realize I didn't bring my wallet down with me, so it was a trek back to the jeep - d'oh!

I got my packet and walked over to the Team Z tents and suddenly hear someone call my name... Jennifer Medina was there!!  Oh how totally and pleasantly random!!  I grew up with the Medina's... I know Jennifer from diving, and worked really hard with her one year to try to organize a trip out to US Diving Olympic trials one year... 1992??  We were unsuccessful in making the trip, but ended up creating a life friendship.  Her sister, Allison, and I became super close over the years.  As what happens with many relationships, we lost touch over the years.  Gosh, it must be over 10 or 15 years since I've seen Jennifer last.  How awesome to see her as my first friendly team face!

Go Jen Go!! :-)

I sat down and started catching up with Jennifer, and my relay teammate, Thierry, came over to introduce himself and discuss race logistics -- this was to be his first race ever!  [side bar: doing relays is a great way to meet new people on the team, apparently!]  As we are talking, one of my swim lanemates (is that a word?), Hillary, came over to say hello, and then a little later I ran into my [assigned] mentor, Maureen.  I no longer felt like a completely new person walking into a huge situation!  Thierry and I ended up walking over to the transition area together to do our final preparations and get ready to start.

It's been so long since I've been in a triathlon, I really forgot how nice triathletes are.  I stopped on the grass to put on my wetsuit (and it fit, thank goodness!  Except.. there's a small tear in the right leg, and truth be told it's a little tight.. nothing about 5-10 lbs won't fix), and some random guy came over and offered to help zip me up... then I head down to test out the water and immediately get into a conversation with another woman who is racing... back up on the beach, I strike up a conversation with yet another woman, also doing a relay.  I've missed this atmosphere.

The oh-so-flattering wetsuit photo...

Anyway, the swim starts and as soon as I get horizontal, I realize just how much my wetsuit is squeezing my boobs -- sooo uncomfortable!!  I wondered how I was going to be able to complete the swim like this?  Obviously I couldn't quit though... Thierry was waiting on me!  So off I went, and honestly, other than the tight wetsuit, the swim went pretty well.  The buoys came up pretty quickly one after the other.  There were a few a$$hole swimmers along the way... you really only need to kick someone or swim on top of someone once, and then you change your path.. the continued abuse in the water was super annoying!  Before I knew it though, I was on the home stretch.. stood up and for the first time ever ran out of the water.. and I kept running up the beach, down the sidewalk and up the hill to transition.. holy crap that was a long run!!  Luckily Thierry's bike was in the first row, and I quickly passed the timing chip off to him and he was off!

I used my Garmin for the first time in open water... a little shaky on the first leg, but then I straighten out a bit; definitely a straight-shot on that last line (which is where I thought I was way off.. weird).  The (1) is when I hit the lap button as I stood up on the beach to run to transition

I have tried to run part of the way from the swim to transition in the past, but never have run the entire way (except for maybe the only one other relay I've done, and there was a whole 5 feet to get there).  I really thought I was going to die.  I couldn't do anything but sit on the ground.. still in the wetsuit that was super uncomfortable.  I have never been that tired and out of breath after a 750 meter swim.  Correction:  I have never been that exhausted after ANY swim!  Logically, I realize it was the sprint from the water up to the transition area that had me feeling like death, but I was suddenly filled with thoughts of self-doubt - how in the world am I going to do a full triathlon if I can't even stand myself up to pull off my wetsuit?  And I think I'm doing a half-iron distance aqua-bike??  Surely I am in trouble.  And then, with a glance at my watch, how did it take me so long?? 

Finished.

Finally, I was able to pull myself out of this funk (and really, the swim itself was pretty decent, less the time...I'm blaming the smashed boobs!!), get out of my wetsuit and sat on the lawn for a bit cheering on the other swimmers running up to transition.  Eventually, I put on some shorts and made my way over to the Team Z area.  I decided to go for a walk just to get in a little extra workout, but about half mile in, I realized I wanted to be back where all the action is (and hey, 1 miles > 0 miles) so I headed back up to the transition area just in time to see Thierry start his run.  From there, I went back to the tents and settled into a chair to start watching the finishers.  A few hours later, and after a famous Team Z bbq lunch, I was ready to head out.  The ride home took FOREVER (stupid 95 traffic on the weekends) but I finally got home, showered and rested up.. first day of a new job was on Monday - eeks!  All in all, a good day.

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UPDATE: Official time for this swim is 17:12, which is not bad at all!!  That's a 2:18/100m pace.  I wonder why I thought I was so slow...maybe I forgot to stop my watch when I got out of the water?