My first goal for this swim was to finish. Beyond that I wanted to keep an even pace, to finish under 1:30 (1 hour and 30 minutes) and, hopefully, not be last. I was nervous when I started and I wrestled with uncertainty about the event and my capabilities before and during the race. I paced myself at every half mile, which means I only looked at my watch when I hit each half mile buoy.
For the first half mile, I concentrated on finding my pace and my space. It was important for me to get in my own "lane" and to feel that I was just out for a really long training swim. I had reluctantly done all of my training swims by myself, so this was familiar territory. In that first half mile I repeatedly counted three breaths and then sighted a course marker, usually one of several large, orange buoys. When I got to the first half mile buoy I was at 20 minutes. In the second half mile, I repeated with every breath "present moment, wonderful moment, all is well" and then I sighted a course marker. At mile one I was at 39 minutes. I wanted to be under 45 minutes, so I was pleased, but then I started getting a little discouraged and distracted. My mind started to wander to all sorts of things - a fight I had with my daughter, a biopsy I postponed to do this swim, insufficient sleep, mom and Tina waiting on the beach, how tired I felt and about another mile still left to swim. Then my mind wandered to Scott Rigsby, who has done his own "unthinkable," and to his foundation, which supports people with loss of limb and/or mobility and for which I was raising money with this swim. I thought about the people who made donations to me as part of the Scott Rigsby Foundation's Team Unthinkables and, in particular, about Ben, who recently lost his wife to cancer, donated a generous amount and wrote to me, "You get on with your bad self!" And I remembered what John Young, a one mile swimmer racing for the Challenged Athletes Foundation, told me on the beach, "When you get to mile one, keep swimming!" At the 1.5 mile marker, my watch revealed it was my slowest half mile at 21 minutes. Time to focus! I got on with my bad self, told myself to use my legs more and tried to pass other swimmers until I finished. I successfully passed at least two swimmers and had my eye on another in the last quarter mile, but I just couldn't pass her. She was a great pacer and helped me finish under 1:30. I congratulated her when we were both on the beach.
Once I hit the beach and crossed the finish line timing mat, I was surprised by how weak my legs were and how dizzy I felt. I had never felt that in training. My mom said that the race director told the crowd to watch for the "2 o'clock walk" of the two mile swimmers. In other words, we would be stumbling as if we had enjoyed one too many drinks and were coming out of a bar at 2am. My mom said some of the swimmers actually fell down as soon as they got out of the water and tried to stand up. I made it past the finish line, congratulated the woman who finished before me, a volunteer removed my timing chip and then I gladly sat down. When I tried to stand back up, I felt like I was going to fall down. I sat back down for quite a bit longer, while my mom and Tina - my #1 and #2 fans - patiently waited. They have supported me at many races and I am deeply grateful for them.
With a time of 1:19:31, I finished 66th out of 74 two mile swimmers. The 74th swimmer came out of the water with her arms in the air, jogging towards the finish line mat and saying, "I won! I won!" She won by finishing, just finishing. Everyone was cheering for her. The female winner in my age division in the two mile swim finished in 1:03:40 and the overall female winner in the two mile swim finished in 49:40 and was 27 years old. The 3rd place female winner in my age division in the one mile swim finished in 37:26, which was just slightly faster than my 39:00 one mile split time and makes me think I have a shot at being on the one mile podium next year and winning a pint glass :)
It's a week later and my neck is still sore. My butt and legs are sore too, but I think that is from the 12 mile trail run I did today... Time to get ready for my first 50K trail run in October. That's 31 miles. What?!? I think I'll be making this same face then.
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| Feeling nervous before the swim. |
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| Finishing well below my 1:30 goal time. |
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| Recovering after the swim while mom stands by with her umbrella. |
