July 8, 2011

Open water swimming is HARD. Harder than I thought it would be. I went out last night with a group from the YMCA. OMG, I can't even begin to write about how hard it was. I panicked. If it was not for my tri-swim instructor, I would still be bopping in the middle of Oneida Lake! Every time I attempted to put my face in the water to swim,I could only go about 3-4 strokes before I hyperventilated. I flipped on to my back A LOT. I also tried to breaststroke but felt like I was going no where fast. The waves kept me in place. I could not see the second life guard raft, let alone the shore! It was a truly awful experience. I did come away with one important conclusion; I need to stick with women only triathlons for a LONG time. I was clearly struggling, but it was only a few women to stop by me to see if I was okay. The men just flew by without a care in the world. I was also only 3 people out of 47 without a wetsuit, but whatever. A wetsuit is not in my future so I just need to deal with it.

I am trying to maintain a positive attitude, but am feeling a little defeated. According to last year's Iron Girl results, the slowest swimmer took 15 minutes to complete 600 meters. At this rate, I am at the 20+ minute mark.

Tomorrow is my my training tri. Other than the bike section, I am not feeling too confident. :-(