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Thursday, August 06, 2009

Ocean Race

This September I am going to be doing the swimming leg of a half Ironman relay. It's a 1.2 mile ocean swim although for swim reason on the map at the bottom of this post it's only listed as a mile. It occurred to me a couple weeks ago that perhaps my first ocean race should not be a half Ironman. Call me crazy. As luck would have it, a husband and wife team was looking for a swimmer for a race called the Witch City Triathlon in Salem, MA. It was a half mile ocean swim. I had never done a relay before so it would also be nice to have that experience before my big race. Plus I got to joke around that I was loading my broomstick for Witch City when I was packing my car. The Big Giraffe was stumped because he knew there was no correct response to that one!

I showed up on Sunday and met my teammates. I had talked to them on the phone a couple times as well as exchanged emails, you know just like on-line dating. We also didn't recognize each other at first, much like on-line dating. I'm kidding! They were really nice. They accompanied me down to the water so that I could warm up. I think they may have been a little skeptical about my ability to swim when I walked into the water, stubbed my toe on a big rock, and then declared the water to cold to bother warming up. Hey it was freezing! I noticed other swimmers weren't warming up as well.

Soon it was time for the race to begin and it started out with the usual announcements one of which was an explanation of the swim course: We should be aware of large rocks in the water as we entered it Yeah, it was a little late for that. We were also told to keep the buoys on our right. Sounded good. Normally you're either going clockwise or counter clockwise. Except for the first one. Why was that? Apparently there was a large rock to the right of the first buoy and we might swim into it. Are you kidding me? Why were we swimming that course?! I found out later that this is the first year they've used that specific course.

One of the many nice aspects of being in a relay was that I was in the last heat meaning that I got to watch other swimmers navigate the course. Instead of being reassured, I was perplexed. Why were half of the yellow caps on the wrong side of the buoys well after the first one. I asked the swimmer I had carpooled with and she told me it was because they were "stupid people". Alrighty then.

It was time for us to line up the water. It was freezing even with my wetsuit although mine is sleevelss with short legs. Our heat started and I navigated the first bouy thankfully without any rock issues. After I turned the first corner I noticed that someone was swimming towards me. What was going on? It was a white cap, ie the first heat. I popped up and looked around. Where were the bouys? Was I to the left of them? OMG I was a stupid person! Actually I was on the right side, but swimming in the ocean was very different than swimming in a lake much less a pool.

Did I mention how cold the water was? I welcomed the warm spots. Yes, you did read that right. I looked forward to the warm spots knowing full well that I was swimming into someone else's pee. By the end, a couple of my toes had gone numb.

I finished fast and quickly got out of the water. As I was pulling off my wetsuit, I realized that my neck was stinging me and it wasn't from the cold like I had initially thought. A friend and my runner both told me that I had a big red circle on my throat. When it continued to spread, I went over to the First Aid who referred me to the paramedics that they always have at every triathlon. The paramedics confirmed that it was some sort of bite. The Midwesterner in me broke loose and immediately wanted to know if it were a jellyfish bite. I knew it, I knew it! Lake Michigan is so much better. All the benefits of an ocean without any scary water life. Actually it wasn't a jellyfish after all.

I think what happened was that some sort of bug got into the neck of my wetsuit and stung me. When the bite started swelling, it made the neck of my wetsuit tighter causing it to rub against my neck. The end result? It looked like the Big Giraffe had tried to strangle with a rope. Seriously it went all around the front of my neck with the swollen bite in the center. I got some interesting looks and flat out questions when I took my older son to camp the next day.

All in all though it was a good race. The course was set up similarly to the one I'll be swimming in September. It was just a smaller version of it. I'm glad I did. Plus the free t-shirt for it was realy cool. It had a witch on a broomstick.

Currently I'm searching for a wetsuit with arms and legs for September as I've been told by the people running the race that it will be much colder. I'm just not so sure I can count on the warm spots like I was able to for this race!

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: There may come a time when you look forward to the warm spots in the ocean. Never say never.

posted by Alex Elliot @ 2:23 PM 4 comments

4 Comments:

At 8/06/2009 8:15 PM, Jen of A2eatwrite said…

You are amazing, Alex. Truly amazing.
At 8/07/2009 5:38 AM, Goofball said…

So how far do you need to swim? Isn't there a lot of waves? Ah I hate surface swimming.

How much mm is your wetsuit?
At 8/07/2009 7:52 PM, Alex Elliot said…

Thanks, Jen! Goofball, it's a 1.2 mile swim. I've heard that there can be a lot of waves. It's early in the morning when it tends to not be as rough. My suit is a 3mm which is standard for triathlon suits.
At 8/17/2009 8:19 PM, Suzanne said…

Um, damn? That is just so impressive. Even if you are one of the "stupid people." Ha ha. That will make me laugh for hours...

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Name:	Alex Elliot
Home:	MA, United States
About Me:	Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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