The Swim

Alison, Dan and I started heading down to the water a bit after 6:30, I think. We quickly got caught up in the traffic jam on the helix that we were warned about. When the pro's gun went off at 6:50, we were still not in the the water. We hit the boat ramp right at 7:00 and I was right next to the gun and felt the blast of air from the discharge. In theory, I would have liked to have been there about 10 minutes earlier so I could have placed myself where I wanted to start and warmed up a little, but hey, at least we were in the water. I started swimming on the outside of the course, like planned. There was a bit of jostling and such, but no more than I usually feel at the beginning of a race.

My family didn't take pictures of the swim, so I shamelessly copied this from another blog. It's not even from this year, but it's not like you were going to see my swim cap in that mess anyway:



And this is from this year, you can pretend I'm that closest person in the red cap, only mine was white:



It was pretty cool to be swimming in a lake in the middle of a city - all the other races I have done have been out in the country. On the first leg of the swim we swam by Monona Terrace and it was fun looking over at all the spectators. The first turn of the race is called the Moo Corner, all the swimmers lift their heads and moo at the kayakers wearing cow shirts and hats. Being on the outside of the course, I had a pretty good look at all the support boats through out the race.

On the back half of the first loop, I started to make my way in towards the buoys a little more as it seemed to be getting less crowded. I was in my own space and zoning out a bit when I got my goggles kicked off. They didn't make it off the top of my head, but I had to stop and tread water while I put them back on and it messed up my flow. It was like being slapped in the face or having someone pour cold water over your head. I immediately headed back out to the edge of swimmers again, I would rather swim 5-10 minutes long than be pummeled in the washing machine that is the Ironman swim.

It didn't take me long to get back in my zone, stroke stroke stroke breath stroke stroke stroke breath..... The second loop was uneventful. I still enjoyed taking a breath and seeing the city skyline with the capital building peaking over. I got a few more minor kicks and hits, especially after the last turn when the course narrowed to get back to shore.

When I got out of the water and looked at my watch and saw 1:25 (officially 1:26:17), I was perfectly happy with that time. There is no doubt in my mind that I could have swam faster if I hadn't done the extra yardage, but I finished the swim unscathed and feeling great. As the Endurance Nation coaches said, the swim is just your ticket into the rest of the race. Next stop, my first experience with the wetsuit strippers - you get the wetsuit over your butt and lay down and they pull off the rest of your suit. As I shuffled up the helix, I was so happy to see my family, I gave Alex a big high five.



T1 - Before the race, I talked to several people about how Ironman races work. They told me it was like magic - you show up in the changing room and someone is already holding your transition bag and then they help you go through the bag and get what you need. Apparently this only works when you aren't coming out of the water at the same time as 1,000 other people. I had to find my bag in the transition room (they were lined up in order, but that did take a certain amount of thinking - What number am I again? And where would that be relative to say, number 1500???). I eventually found my bag and headed into the changing room without a special volunteer helper.

I found an empty chair in the changing room and began my business. I was next to a woman who was ranting her head off, "This is my 5th Ironman and I've never done a swim that was so congested and this transition is too chaotic and blah blah blah." I looked at her and shut her off. I did not need any of that negative energy. I tuned her out and kept thinking, "You did the swim exactly as planned, you didn't get hurt, great job." And Alison was in the changing room too, one of about 4 times I would see her all day long.

I wore a swim suit under my wetsuit and stripped that off for my bike shorts, sports bra and jersey. I took the time to put body glide in all the relevant places and grabbed my race number, helmet, bike shoes, gloves and sunglasses. Outside the changing rooms was a line of volunteers with sunscreen and I made sure to get all my skin covered. And lastly, I was expecting to jog over the the Bike Out and grab my bike from a volunteer, but again, my bike was still on the rack and I had to get it myself. Total time: 12:05.