Sunday, May 30, 2010

That's More Like It

Today was my first "race" of the season. An easy 2 mile open water swim in the beautiful Lake Audubon in Reston, VA. Of course, this meant another early morning... When you do triathlons, long weekends are not for sleeping in.

Anyway, I got on the road and headed out to Reston. When I got to the lake, the DC Tri tent was up and filled with peppy swimmers. Okay, that might be a stretch, but it was filled with people who were about to swim.

I sandbagged my time a bit, so I was starting in the third to last swim wave. I knew I would be tired from the day before and it was a technical course - multiple turns, only 1 straight away, so I knew my time wouldn't be great.

We all lined up, say our good lucks and each wave started to go off. Karen and I headed into the water, I went to fix my wetsuit on my neck and off went the whistle. No count down, no warning - just off. So, I took off. Here was the other problem with putting down a slower seat time - no one to draft off of!! I took a few strokes, looked around, and I was leading the wave! Dang it!!

The first lap was pretty uneventful. A few kicks here, hits there. I also took mental notes to have a better and more efficient line for lap two. I was getting frustrated with people hitting my feet and not knowing how to draft properly, but I think that was just because I couldn't find anyone to draft off of.

Lap two started after 32 minutes. I worked on having a better line and more efficient stroke. At one of the turns, I saw a guy cut across me, and cut the buoy. About 100 meters later, he cut the next turn buoy. Stupid guy. I don't know how he lives with himself...

Anyway, I finished the race as strong as I could - 1 hour 4 minutes flat. A perfect split. Not too bad. 7 out of 12 in my division, I'll take it! Only 1 minute and 8 seconds slower than when I did the race in 2008 - when I was in better shape and training for the Bay swim.

After the race was the best part. Hugh's sister and brother-in-law live on the lake and opened their home to us for a BBQ. YUM!! Nothing says happy 2 mile swim like a cheeseburger. Delish!

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