“Who is that guy over there?”
“I dunno . . .”
I was wearing my wetsuit and standing up to my waist in Ashland Reservoir, thinking about the first open-water swim that I was going to do since the triathlon one month ago. I was going to do it last week, but I totally wimped out.* I was still a bit unsure about swimming a mile — four times longer than the triathlon, which seemed to take forever. I was only expecting to swim a half-mile, but the group I was meeting for the first time decided to switch it up.
I waded over and introduced myself. “Hi, I’m Jeff. I’m kinda slow, and I’m wicked nervous.”
A few people said nice things to set me at ease. One woman who claimed to be a bit slower gave me some tips on how and where to sight and said she would hang back to keep an eye on me.
Standing in the water I was happy to be there. After all, the morning really was beautiful . . . the kind of morning that you see in commercials for retirement funds . . . the ones with the video of a New England lake, wisps of steam rising in the early hours of the morning, soothing music, and a confident voice-over.
I was anything but confident when I put my face in the water and started to swim toward the beach around the corner that I couldn’t see. Immediately I had that feeling from the triathlon. I was floating just fine, and I was warm enough. But the water just seemed so close in; two feet in every direction of me was a dull, wet brown trailing off to darkness. A few minutes in, I wanted it to be over. I contemplated how bad it would be if I decided to turn around and say, “Sorry, y’all. But this swimming and tri thing isn’t for me.”
But unlike last time, I didn’t panic. Nor did I feel as tired. My breathing was good, even when I was trying to sight. My wetsuit, although tight, wasn’t preventing me from finding a good rhythm. I think I actually swam relaxed. And when my new swimming buddy Lisa said, “Well, you’re faster than me,” I started to think that maybe this swimming thing was something I could do. I decided to just do it and enjoy the morning’s swim.
Of course, my swim friend also said that I needed to try to sight better and swim straighter, since I was “swimming twice as far” with all of the course corrections I was making. And I realized a few times that my technique was suffering. So that’s something to work on, too.
Just before we all left, I got invited to the next session on Friday. As long as the weather is nice, I’ll be there.
* — I really did wimp out last Wednesday. I was wide awake at 4:30AM thinking about being the slowest person, about having diabetes issues, about not fitting in, about not having time to make it to the lake in time, about what I was going to do afterward, about looking like a shlemiel when I went to meet Miriam Tucker at a nice restaurant in Boston that evening because I hadn’t showered, and about all sorts of little issues. It makes me a bit embarrassed when y’all say I’m awesome, because you don’t know about all of these insecurities and the times that I let them get the better of me. I do my best, but sometimes I cave. Not today, though.
I find almost no better way to start the day off than with an open water swim. After some time you’ll be able to let go of the distractions that go along with the nerves of swimming with a group and you’ll be able to take in other niceties. I think the cool/cold water injects an energy into you that lasts much of the day. And you gain a whole new perspective being at water’s level in the middle of the lake or ocean with the sun rising, or jumping in when it’s slightly foggy (careful there) or even a light rain can make for a great swim. Of course, being free of that pesky pool wall that crops up every 25yds is especially liberating.
And swimming straight will come with just a little time and practice. I still find myself taking a sight and wondering how I turned 60 deg off my mark and how long I’ve been on the wrong course. And always funny when you notice your swim partner veering way off course, giving you something to chat about at the break – unless you are both aiming for different marks that you both thought you agreed upon and end up breaking in different places. It’s all fun.
-Chris (waiting for the ocean to warm a few more degrees)
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Way to get out there and overcome your fears. And hey, sounds like you got 2 miles in
! I’m pretty new to the triathlon thing too, and did my first OWS race last month (1/2 mile…which was plenty).