As you may or may not know, I signed up for the Jersey Girl Triathlon in January, three days after completing my adult swim classes. I feel as though I've been preparing for this race forever. Every person who was familiar with this triathlon told me it was a fabulous female-only race and that it was very beginner friendly. "Beginner friendly" is the key component here.
We decided to head out to the expo on Saturday to see if there was anything interesting going on. They were giving a lecture on how to set up a transition area and a demo on how to change a flat tire. The flat tire demo was going to be important for some women.
It turned out to be a lousy weekend weather-wise. The ocean was crashing onto the shore and the waves were tremendous. We stood on the boardwalk staring at the angry ocean. I casually mentioned that there was no way I would ever get into an ocean like that. Ha, little did I know! When we got home the weather improved and it was nice and sunny outside. This left me feeling hopeful that the nice weather would last at least until the triathlon was complete. But as luck would have it, that hope faded very quickly on race day.
Now I should tell you that I am a firm believer in fate and that things happen for a reason. I discovered the "reason" after the race was done when I was able to reflect back on it. I'll explain this to you in part 2.
SWIM:
We arrived at Long Branch early Sunday morning and were lucky enough to secure a really good parking spot. The weather was soggy, rainy, cold and dark. My spirits were just as dark and rainy as the sky. I was pissed off and nervous over the weather conditions. I knew I had no control over it, and this just pissed me off even more. We sat in the car waiting to see if the skies would clear. No such luck. I turned to Tom and said "I just want you to know that I'm crying on the inside". "You'll be fine" he replied. God, how I HATE that response! I said no more..
Transition closed at 6:30 am, and by 6:10 I conceded to the fact that I would have to deal with my gear getting wet in transition. Most people covered their stuff with plastic, but one crafty woman had a large rectangular bin housing all of her gear...AND keeping it dry. I was so darn jealous of her. Why didn't I think of that?
I pulled my wetsuit on, kissed Tom goodbye and headed towards the beach. The waves weren't as huge as the day before, but they were pretty darn big...and intimidating. I prayed for a clap of thunder and a bolt of lightening. Again, no such luck. The race was on...on like Donkey Kong as Tom would say. Time to suck it up Jersey Girl!
I was in the 6th wave (ages 45-49) and there was a 3 minute delay between each wave. I tried not to watch the earlier waves fighting their way into the ocean. I figured I would be there soon enough and I just didn't need to stress myself even more. Wave 5 went into the water and our group moved to the shoreline. Now I had a good view of what was going on. All I could see was a mass of white swim caps fighting through crashing waves and bobbing up and down helplessly. I felt sheer panic setting in.
"60 seconds...30 seconds...10, 9, 8, 7..." and before I knew it we were running in! A cheering squad stood on the beach chanting "go, go, go go go". We were immediately greeted by a large wave that tried to knock us down, but the Jersey Girls stood their ground. Two more waves quickly followed. Then miraculously, a very brief lull. In the distance I could see more large waves setting themselves up for another round of assaults. The Jersey Girls took advantage of the brief lull and began swimming towards the first buoy as quickly as possible. I followed their lead.
There were about 30 swim angels in the water willing to swim with any participant who needed an angel. A woman next to me was swimming with a male angel and I heard him telling her that everything was going to be okay and that she was close to the first buoy. I swam past them and around the buoy. I notice another large swell heading our way. I braced myself as the wave lifted us high into the sky, then dropped us like rag dolls. I felt myself go under, I swallowed a mouth full of seawater, then popped back up again. Two seconds later another swell lifted us up and dropped us again. A swim angel was nearby and asked if I was okay. Oh yeah, I'm just fine and dandy out here. I refused the help of a swim angel and I refused to use a noodle (yes they allowed noodles. Remember, its a beginner friendly triathlon). I had spent months training for this day and come hell or high water, I was going to do this completely on my own...or at least die trying.
The waves lifted and dropped us more times than I can count but I continued moving towards the second buoy. The entire swim became a matter of contending with one large wave after the next. Up and down we went like a bunch of crazies on a ride at an amusement park. I could feel swimmers around me paddling, hitting my legs and feet. And then I felt something really strange moving against my right leg. I had no idea if it was a fish or a jellyfish, but I knew it wasn't human. To top it off a piece of seaweed wrap around my toe. That was it! I had enough and I wanted out of that hellish ocean!
I turned the last buoy and used the large waves to push me back to shore. When I knew I was close enough to stand up, I took a quick glance over my shoulder only to see another wave heading towards me. I stood up and made a run for it before the next wave could take me down. I was out of the water. Holy smokes, I did it! I survived the swim!
Unlike my first triathlon, this time I remembered to unzip my wetsuit as soon as I got out of the water. Tom was standing on the beach and I heard him congratulate me as I ran by. I gave him a quick wave and kept running towards transition. I was ready to get on the bike and leave that nasty swim behind. Ocean conquered! On to Part 2...
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