The Ridges 5K Invitational Swim Report
I did this swim last year, and for some insane reason, I thought it was a GREAT idea to do it again :-)
It is an incredibly low key race. It is a point to point swim (actually 3.24 miles) across a beautiful lake in Hiawasse, GA (up in the Appalachians). You register, and then groups caravan in cars to the finish. Then, a group hops in a van (on the floor of course), and is driven back to the start (only one van). On that ride, there is a TON of nervous talk/stories. Almost everyone is a triathlete, so we have lot to talk about. I was the only one who had done it before, so I was the source of information such as "try to stay on course!"
To the start. I stared at the maps until I could not stare anymore. Last year they had FIVE bouys for the entire swim. Seriously. I am a triathlete who is used to five bouys I can see in one sighting! This year they upped it to 7 (but they were smaller, and hard to see from so far away.
The first part of the race went well. I learned from last year, and I stuck a gu in my bathing suit. After an hour of swimming, I ate it. Perfect. Feeling good. After an hour and a half of swimming I decided that this was the dumbest idea. I don't HAVE to swim this far. An ironman is almost a mile less. What am I doing? Why am I here. Will one of those boats just pick me up? The water is perfect until a boat goes by, and then they mess it all up (they are keeping us safe from other boaters, but in my head they are totally sabotaging my whole race). Or, maybe (crazy head thinks), they are trying to kick me out of the race because I am SO slow.
Eventually....eventually, I see the finish. Three yellow bouys hanging as a finish line, and I put aside all of the mental frustrations and I swim until I think my arms are going to fall off. Yippie!
2009 3.24 miles
2:23 72/79 (79 finisher, more start)
2010 3.24 miles
2:01 67/85 (I think over 100 started though!)
Major improvement. I was really too mentally exhausted to stay for the awards, even though I love the feel of this community of people. Today, I am mentally MUCh better, but my shoulders are really tired! Back to running and biking!
My Ironman is in 2 months :eek::eek:
