Ruth's Race report

I have to say that I had a blast. So much so, that the ladies and I have signed up for a sprint tri (flat as a pancake in Long island) at the end of June!

I must admit I was very anxious about the race. I knew I could finish a mile in a pool but in a lake? Would there be fish/creepy crawlers in there? What if I fell so far behind that the volunteers thought the race was over and abandoned me? What if I had a cramp? Where would I hold on to? I kept reminding myself that there were tons of spectators and someone was bound to be looking out...I knew Lidia and Alexa would be waiting so that was reassuring. I knew that after a few hours they'd come looking for me, though I'd be sleeping with the fishes by then.
So all these thoughts were going through my head the night before. I didn't sleep a wink, though the cottage we rented was very cozy. I especially liked the fireplace. Note to self, rent the place again.

Morning of the race.

We get up at the crack of dawn (*$%# ) I had a PBJ sandwich as Matt recommended. Good idea. We're all packed in the Honda element (5 of us, it seats 4) we put some music to pump us up, though no one is saying anything. We're all thinking about the race (or perhaps thinking "I have to make sure to get the front seat on the drive home") The line of cars is outrageous and we have to park in Massachusetts. But that's OK. The walk will be a good warm-up.

We get to the park, we register. We get our goodie bags. Nice shirts -- though they have the wrong sizes for Lidia and Alexa :( We get written all over our bodies with sharpies by volunteers. Our team number is 5526 so we have the number 526 on our hands, legs, arms (though I told them I was wearing a wetsuit so they only marked my hand and my swimming cap which was yellow- high visibility! can only be good)

We head to the transition area. I was impressed by the organization. Everything was labeled clearly. We went to our row and saw Esther! Team Bloomingdale's transition slot was next to ours.
I remembered to bring a towel for the feet. So putting on the wetsuit on the moist floor was not too unpleasant. I saw that Gabe had brought a yoga mat. Smart move. Luckily Alexa was there to help me zip up (it's hard!)

I'm very nervous since I don't know where I'm going so I head to the start area for the swim. It's a nice little walk to the start but I decide to get in the water right away to get a feel for it. Everyone was doing the same, and everyone was thinking the same (*&%#! this water is ^%&*ing! cold) My worst fear had come to pass. My hands were frozen (but not my feet-- I brought booties!) The skin of my face hurt as I went in the water (good for the complexion-- I keep thinking to myself-- trying to find a positive to this)
I saw Gabe in the water and tried to form a sentence as my teeth chattered, and then we separated (I'm sure he tried hard to figure out what I was saying) so I was by myself among all these people in colorful caps.
I looked to the lake. It was foggy. You could barely see the first buoy and we had to swim to a not visible third one! I don't know about this, I thought... A few people commiserated about the coldness and the lack of visibility. The race was being postponed. They were going to wait and see if the fog would lift. People started chatting as we waited. Some people had come from very far away to be at NH. I thought that was very cool indeed.

And then I saw these two tall men wearing identical wetsuits (color coordinated with their swim caps which were neon green---now that's planning!) and knew right away that they were Shawn and Craig. Although I had never met them formally, I felt that I knew a little bit about them from hearing all the stories Matt had told through the years and from the blog. It was so nice to finally met them and specially under these fun circumstances.
They pointed to Matt and the rest of the group so I got out of the water and we hung out for a bit, Heather took some very nice group pictures as we waited anxiously for word of the start. Heather also had a piece of a PBJ sandwich which she offered to me and I gladly took.

Finally they decided to shorten the swim so we could see where we were going I guess (frankly, I think it was so THEY could see where the swimmers were! For which I am very grateful)

I didn't know where to stand in my wave. I asked Esther and she had a definite plan. I knew she would be one of the leaders of the pack so I knew the shore would be last I saw of her! I was clueless as to where I should place myself so I just stood as people placed themselves around me. I moved to the back row and tried to visualize a pleasant swim, I went to my happy place...ah the Caribbean... warm crystal clear water...warm warm... when all of the sudden I heard people yelling "GO GO GO GO!" so off I went!
I don't recall a bell, I just heard people yelling... interesting and very exciting. My heart was racing (for about 2 seconds).
It has always taken me about 200-300 m to warm up so my plan was to breaststroke till the first buoy since I didn't know the new length for this race (it turned out to be .6 of a mile what ever that might mean) and as I did that, I saw everyone in my group pass me. That was OK. I was grateful to have people leading me to where I needed to go. I just followed the bobbing heads, hands and feet ahead of me and hoped someone knew where they were going. I saw a man pull up to canoe and rest for a bit. I wished him well, later on the results board, I saw that everyone on my wave finished so he must have been able to recoup.

I have to say this was probably the weirdest experience I've ever had. I tried to do freestyle and caught up with some of my wave and was swimming among them. We looked like a school of fish. I saw hands and feet and colorful yellow heads. Sleek bodies in quiet motion. I wish I could have videotaped the athletes underwater. It was really a beautiful sight.

People kept touching my feet (I guess they couldn't see the booties) and I got kicked in the face as I was coming up for air (good thing the water tasted good) so I went back to breast stroke to get my bearings and get the water out of my lungs! LOL I still couldn't warm up.
In the pool, after the initial warm up, I always feel myself kick into second gear. I kept waiting for that moment. Nope. It wasn't coming. I reached the first buoy and we had to turn. Bottleneck! But everyone was very polite and like fish, somehow managed to squeeze by. After the turn I decided to try freestyle again and for some strange reason looked at the bottom. Nada. Darkness. I was in deep water. All I saw was dark brown. Yes. The theme for Jaws came to mind. Remember, there are no sharks or jellyfish in lakes, ooph.

I had veered way to the right-- all the way from the left and saw that a canoe was approaching to guide me. Defeated, I went back to BS again. Which was fine. I was enjoying the swim, the sights, the people on the boats cheering "Come on!" "Good Job" "you're doing great!" I was moved. I know they shouted all these cheers to everyone but it was really nice to hear. I probably would have felt a tear roll down my cheek if it wasn't already wet or frozen.

We were now swimming the wide part of the leg. We were supposed to swim to a boat, and then to a buoy. I could not see a boat so I followed the now distant bobbing yellow heads . I started seeing people in red caps (grrrr) oh well. I knew this was going to happen. It was cool. I was enjoying this. I was loosing sight of the last yellow cap but since I was not alone (the red caps were now surrounding me) I knew i'd be fine.

I don't remember passing a boat, I remember passing canoes when all of the sudden I saw a buoy! Wow. It went quicker than I thought! Ok now I really should do freestyle. I could see the beach. I heard people clamoring. I tried FS but I couldn't catch my breath. I wasn't tired. My heart wasn't pounding..it just wasn't working! So I kept doing BS with five FS and then back to BS. That seemed to work fine. My arms and legs were feeling good. And before I knew it I reached the beach.
I gotta say I was a little disoriented coming out. I've never gotten out of the pool quickly after a workout. I usually linger on the wall and do leg lifts...It was weird, to come out of the water and scramble to find the transition pit. I didn't know where to find the girls but suddenly I heard Lidia and Alexa calling me! They were jumping up and down excitedly and I found their energy contagious. Lidia went on to do her amazing leg on the bike (even with a mishap she did great) and Alexa went on to do her great run.
So yeah, I finished! I accomplished my initial goal. I did not drown nor did I cause harm to anyone (however I did bang heads with Lidia during transition as we both bent down to remove my timing chip but she wore a helmet so not too much damage was done there...of course I could not remember my phone number today so I don't know...)
So yeah, it was lots of fun. I'd do it all over again in a minute (or 30+)

I want to thank Matt for inspiring us to do this. Everyday at work he would talk of his workouts, his training with so much enthusiasm that one day we simply decided to join in the fun! And I want to congratulate all the athletes on their personal victories. I thank you for including me on this journey and hope it is the first of many. See you in the water!