What A Great Day For A 2.5 Mile Swim

All I can say is when I got to the lake this morning and saw the buoys marked out for the 2000 meter swim and realized I would be doing it TWICE...my tummy REALLY started to hurt. It hurt so bad that I couldn't even eat the breakfast I brought of leftover tater tots that was someone's midnight snack I found out on the counter this morning. You bet I bagged those bad boys up - way too many preservatives for them to have gone bad in that short amount of time, right?

So with tummy turning, I made my way over to the 2000 meter swimmers to wish them luck before they got in the water. Several of them had just finished the 800 meter, were heading out for the 2k and would then get back in the water for the 4k for a total distance of 4.25 miles total. YIKES! My heros!

By the time we finished our warm up, I was feeling a little better but still unsure if I could complete the entire two loops and also wondering how it would feel to come in dead last :-(

Morgan, Diane, Erica and I felt like we would all have a pretty similar pace and so we talked strategy...tried to remember each others race #s that were marked on our caps...but after the first two people's #s I got thoroughly confused and just hoped to recognize their goggles or wetsuits.

Off we went!

I obviously knew I could finish the first loop since that is my race distance, but I had some uncertainty as to how I wanted to handle it. I really wanted to see what kind of time I could do for my first 2000 meters so I would have an idea where I'm at going into Pac Crest this year. However, I was afraid if I pushed it too much, that I wouldn't have enough gas for the last 1000 or so meters of the second loop. As it was, I hit the 2000 meter mark at about 40 minutes. That's ok...but I was really thinking I would do better. My second loop I was fighting a bunch of people around me and it really threw me off. I can really let go and forget where I'm at and just swim like crazy if I'm off on my own, but it just wasn't happening. The one really great thing was that the whole way, but especially the last loop, I was stroke for stroke with Morgan. Every time I looked up to breath, she was looking at me. The sun was shining down on her pretty face and making her goggles light up like a rainbow. Perfect!

The four of us came into the finish on each others tails (we obviously train together!) and my finishing time was 1:25:25. I had expected to do better than 1:30:00 for sure! I had hoped for and thought it totally possible I would finish between 1:15:00 to 1:20:00, but I'll take my 1:25:25 and be happy that I had the gas to finish strong.

It was a great thing to do before race day. I have an idea of what I need to work on in terms of swimming nicely with others, but as far as my actual swimming...I feel great!

Now here's some pictures to go with the post below from yesterday's good time on the bike, the run, and the parking lot party afterwards!