Anyway, all ranting aside, this was a great workout. We did an out-and-back swim that totaled at 1 mile. We paused (but not for too long) at the 1/4 mile out-bound buoy to let the group collect, at which point Rocky (fearless, fat-free, very tan Ironman triathlete) pointed at me and said "You'll lead the group to the 1/2 mile buoy and I'll bring up the rear." D and I arrived first to the 1/4 mile buoy and I'm sure of the two of us I was picked because
I was wearing a wetsuit and my super cool pink pirate swim cap while D was wearing her sad ol' swim suit. (D is of course a stronger swimmer than I, so I consider this further proof that if you are willing to spend the money in tri, you can buy a look of proficiency beyond your actual skill set.)I am, no joke, a piss poor sighter. I'm really working on it, but I'm not there yet, and Danielle knows this. Bobbing around, 1/4 mile from land, D and I both started laughing at the prospect of my zig-zag approach to open water swimming leading a group anywhere. Mercifully, D did not blurt out my failings, but tidily took the lead a few yards into the second leg. So I got to work on my sighting, but without the pressure of being the lead dog.
As it turns out, a lot of people had trouble sighting on the second buoy. I was getting very discouraged. It felt like that damn little white think off in the distance wasn't getting any bigger. Seriously, no exaggeration, I felt like maybe by the time we reached the buoy we might be in Kenmore. After my concerns started nagging me I started sighting more frequently, and at one pint Rocky (fearless leader) pulled up alongside and said: "Where is that buoy?" I pointed it out and said, "It's there, straight ahead, but I swear it's not getting any bigger." "Just keep focusing on your form," he said, " and it will be here before you know it."
We swam a bit more and then D stopped and turned back at me: "I can't find the buoy." It's right there, I said, pointing at the distant white thing that still seemed interminably far away. "I still don't see it," said D. At this point Rocky came swimming up. "There it is!" he said, "You made it!" pointing at the buoy. The buoy he was pointing at was probably 5 yards away. It was a buoy I hadn't seen the entire swim. As it turns out, I had been sighting on a very large white building located on the opposite shore several miles away. No wonder it never seemed to be getting any closer!
I just had to laugh. It's really a miracle I didn't swim in a circle. Nonetheless, I do believe I was heading relatively straight towards that building the entire time. After regrouping at the 1/2 mile mark, we headed off back to shore, and I got so distracted working on stroke mechanics "catch-up; high-elbow/catch-up; high-elbow" that I sighted to the far side of the swimming area, not the little cove around the corner where we were actually exiting. So I lost a bit of time on the exit, but was more or less on pace with D. She had the good sense to wear a watch, so I know we were at about 16:30 for each 1/2 mile split. 33 minute mile in open water - not too bad.
We only had about 15 minutes once we got out of the water and onto our bikes, so we did hill repeats. My bike was soaking wet, but luckily the rain had stopped for a while. We did three moderate hill climbs, staying in the saddle the whole ride but gearing down (or is it up? whichever way makes it harder to push the peddles) on each repeat and attempting to maintain our original cadence. Something clicked on this and I felt good. I started off towards the back, but by the end of the third repeat I had lapped several people. Must have been that work with Ian - hill shock therapy!
All in all, a great workout!
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