1st official marathon swim completed

People ask what I think about during a long swim ... and sometimes it is hard to answer, because really it is just about anything and everything going on in my head and I like it, it's a chance to debrief my day, be peaceful or vent (quietly), to be thankful, to enjoy nature and physical activity, to think about all the things I need to do and also to let go of all the things I need to do for a little while...

This weekend, swimming 20k in a little under 7.5 hours wasn't much different (& yes I thought about what I could write in my blog too)...

This was the US masters swimming long distance open water 25k championships in Indiana.  I decided a while back that I wanted to do this event for training and experience for my Lake Ontario crossing, and I'm now quite happy I did it and glad I got in to it too because it sold out during the early bird registration at 70 people, can you believe it!  Even when they sent out a psych sheet and I realized most of these people are way faster then me, I was still excited that there were so many, because that's what it is all about, people enjoying water, nature and physical activity... okay 25k swimming is a little extreme,,, and it is nice to know there are so many other crazies out there who want a mental (multi-meaning) challenge too!



sunny and hot on the boat tour

So we flew to Indiana the day before the event, did the registration, did a boat tour of the course: it is a 5k course repeat 5 times, the boat tour of the 5k loop seemed to take a long time...yeah I had some questions pop in my head: "really Mel, this is your idea of a fun getaway weekend with your husband?"... Bill came along too to be my kayaker and since we flew, we rented a kayak.  By the time we went to get assigned a kayak that evening all the kayaks there were already assigned, but they had more coming on race morning.  I was slightly flustered by this, because I wanted it dealt with ahead of time, but oh well, adjusting is part of the game... and little did I know the morning would give me plenty of time to get it figured out...

Pasta dinner, race meeting and off to to the hotel to get my swim nutrition organized and early to bed.  

5am wake-up call, a little breakfast and we head off... We can tell it had rained and shortly after we started driving, the sky lit up with lightning!  And it started to pour! 

waiting for the start



our covered spot on the beach



At the race site we learn the race start would be delayed by 2 hours and at 1st we were told it would be a 20k race with a 8 hour time limited (instead of the original 10 hours for the 25k), but later we were told swimmers could do 25k if they could in the 8 hours, but that a 20k would also count as an official finish.    Almost everyone packed into the clubhouse, but they had this open air tent on the beach and Bill and I laid out a towel and rested, it was actually kind of nice, even though my nerves were making me just want to get it started. 



Finally we are off...



Finally the race got started and even the rain had stopped.  All 70 of us started together and we paired up with our kayakers around the 2nd buoy.  Bill found me easily enough and we got our rhythm.  We got some great practice feeding and guiding with the kayak.  (with the cold spring -> late open water season start for us at home, this was our real 1st practice with some of the logistics and all went well)





A little before I finished the 2nd lap, the leaders past me, neck in neck and apparently it was a race right down to the wire.  It was pretty amazing how fast they looked to be going, I joked to Bill that it was too fast for me to even catch a second of draft from them, they were there and then they were gone.
As I past 12.5k and started swimming further than I had ever swam before continuously, I did think about the things that started to hurt a bit, my back, my neck, my arms, the chaffing, even my abs were feeling it (I let myself think that was good because it meant I was rolling and thought Dave might even be proud) and my throat.  I had a cold and cough going into the event and at some point my throat started to hurt a fair bit to swallow; but I was able to push the negative thoughts away and focus on the positives, this was further then I had ever gone, this was a beautiful body of water (with beautiful houses around it) and I thought about how much I love water and all the great friends and experiences I have had; I thought how this was more time than Bill and I had spent together in awhile, we splashed each other, he squirted the waterbottle fluids into my mouth so I didn't even have to reach for the bottle; I ate a banana while swimming on my back which amused me; I thought about how cool it was to be doing this and about what was next: Lake Ontario...

By the end of the 2nd lap the wind seemed to pick up a bit, and the 3rd lap seemed the waviest to me, with the 2nd 1/2 of the 3rd lap feeling like it was against a strong current, but I actually liked this lap the best, I concentrated on my stroke and was working slightly harder (not quite as easy as prior laps) and it made me feel even better.

And then the 4th and what would be my final lap, I knew I wouldn't get to the 5th in time.  It was sort of a mixed feeling, disappointment at not doing what I really came to do but at the same time it was sort of nice too, knowing you are getting close to finishing is always nice; it wasn't quiting early, it was just the way open water works, a storm gave me less time, and it still was my 1st official marathon swim!  

I got it done, 20k!, I hugged and kissed Bill.  I asked if I could tip him in the kayak, but he declined, the bum!

Now though was the real test.  I was slightly worried because after Ironman I passed out and I thought maybe it would be worse also dealing with getting land legs back, but I was fine.  

And after some drinks and food even my throat started to feel a bit better.
And relaxing in bed til like 10am the next morning which I never do was icing on the cake.

Thanks Billy for your help out there and family back home who helped with the kids while we were away.  And thanks to many others who inspire and support me!



just a little wrinkled at over 7 hours in the water



Unofficial time 7 hours and 21 minutes