I was super nervous about the swim today, mostly because I am a total wimp when it comes to cold water! Julie had me all worked up after sending out emails the night before with a bunch of tips about how to stay warm enough...."drink your electrolyte drink hot"...."make sure you eat warm oatmeal for breakfast"..."maybe try putting your wetsuit on in the warm car before getting out"! I was surprised she didn't recommend we prewarm by sleeping in our wetsuit the night before (I actually considered it even without the suggestion!).
My family joined me for this one, so we drove together to the beach after getting caught up in the Bridge Pedal traffic...took us 30 minutes to guess correctly which bridge to cross! We met at the Nehalem Bay State Park, and suited up in the parking lot. Although it was a dreary day, it wasn't all that cold outside. Julie introduced us to the support team she had convened (what a huge help they were!)...three professional channel swimmers (they swim 21 miles in open water without a wet suit...CRAZY!) and an iron man finisher who was out in a kayak the whole time we were swimming. We had to put a bunch of Body Glide on our necks because apparently when you are swimming in salt water it is common to get a lot of chaffing on your neck. The boys (Rowan and Kincaid) seemed very interested to see all of this preparation happening!
There were two really hard parts to this morning...(1) the first was holding my bladder after drinking the entire way to the beach! The reason for this was to save up because the best way to warm yourself in the water is to pee into your wetsuit! I almost made it, but not quite! I just couldn't hold it all in, so I successfully let out half before getting in the water...wow, what control! (2) the second hard part was getting into the water and letting the water into my wet suit...lots of whooping and hollering made it tolerable. Once I was in though, it really wasn't all that cold...I cant believe I am saying that, but its true! We had paired up with a buddy, or tripled up in my case with Andy and Deb...and then we just started swimming along the shoreline and were to go as far as we wanted but not past the third buoy. The swim out was really tough because the tide was coming in so we were swimming against the current. I kept looking up to sight (which was tough because the buoys were few and small...I ended up sighting off Andy's yellow cap figuring that he was far enough in front of me to have corrected any navigation mistakes somewhere along the line!) and feeling like I was hardly moving. Charles walked along the shore as I swam which was reassuring. I did get into a groove which felt really nice....my breathing was steady and I began feeling really calm in the water. The only anxiety I had was not really having a sense for how far I needed to go....it should be easier during the race because the buoys will be more visible and we do two loops in the Monterey Bay. We finally made it to the second buoy and decided to turn around...I was flabbergasted when our channel swimming buddies told us we had only swum about 750 yards! On the way back, however, we flew with the current and then the distance was a bit more obvious. It was quite fun swimming back, and I felt great when I was all done....no dizziness, and tired but not totally spent.
Today was a huge milestone for me. I wasn't sure how I would feel in the open ocean, in cold water, against current....but it was an incredible experience...powerful and peaceful at the same time! I enjoyed it immensely, and I feel more reassured about the race. The only part I am still dreading is the people mashing splashing chaos in the beginning. I just need to keep telling myself that it will only last a few minutes.
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