So this is the guy who 'enabled' me to swim in open water - first by actually teaching me how in a pool then after 2 failed attempts at open water swimming actually got me across Walden Pond!
in the beginning I signed up to do a triathlon... totally because of an old friend and her infectious enthusiasm for multi sports! "use these guys" she said (also because I was getting a lot of minor running injuries - cross training works!)
I signed up just a couple of months before you did Sauce - but was already committed in Sept '08 ... It took me 'till mid October to workout that I could not actually swim... who knew! but it was early December before despair set in! I could not even swim 25yds without choking - what kind of fucked up sport was this?I have so much respect for ALL swimmers now and ALL body shapes and sizes.... swimmers do tend to be a lot larger than runners... and I am as you know a skinny runner!
I ran, skied and biked a lot; thought I was as fit and in the best shape as I could be.. the pool was a lesson in much more than swimming. It was a humbling experience indeed and actually still is - today was the first day I made myself breathe on both sides and next time I see my triathlon pal/trainer (TPT) will actually have to come clean and tell him he is so right... he has been banging on about how I will not get any faster in the water until I am a bilateral breather - hurumph so my 1600 yds today even with a stunning 'left-side choke pattern' was faster than my past 1600 yd days.
From October right through to the week of our first tri July 27th (my nephews 3rd birthday:) I met with my swim dude (SD) every week.
It was tough - I had to learn to love him. when I closed my eyes it was exactly like being back in high school with my track coach yelling at me ... pushing and pushing me so far into anger that I actually started to swim a whole 25yds!
Every week I was NOT going back to meet him - how dare he yell and push like this? Who does he think he is? BUT the more I researched swimming and did actually think about my high school coach and the results he got from me ... I got even more angry with SD. How come he knows me so well already? Every little technique and drill he tortured me with was supported by a gazillion swimming articles. We didn't even chit chat much beyond me stopping every now and then to try to yell back - or protest in some way.
A neighbour of mine actually stopped me in the street one day - she swims because of a knee injury - to let me know that she, and a couple of other regular swimmers/hot tub loiterers loved my swimming lessons - they were hilarious!! ... Its OK guys - I can laugh about it all now AND actually like my SD
The turning point in our relationship came at Walden Pond .
As I said earlier TWICE I tried and failed to swim in open water - once at Walden Pond with 2 friends and the second time in a Max Performance Swim Clinic in Sharon (remember?) I was just going to try once more to transfer my new skills from the pool to open water.. and SD said he would come and help!!!
Fuck .. it was EXHAUSTING! we biked to Walden (approx. 18 miles) my brand new zoot wet suit in my back pack ... do these things really help with buoyancy? bloody hope so! they are not cheap! My suit also has pink flashes on the shoulders... hate pink but made my purchase with $$ and quality in mind NOT colour... Hmmm this had better work - I am 1 week away from NOT doing the tri!
At the waters edge we get 'suited up' TPT and I are both skinny runners although he is more confident in the water than I am he was still fairly new to swimming. We had 2 swimmers with us... I mean REAL POWERFUL swimmers (we need them so much - because of basic safety) so off we go one on one TPT with a girl friend who is also doing the tri with us but is an amazing swimmer and not a runner and myself with (SD) - incidentally this was the first time I had seen him actually swim - a thought occurred that we were 5 months into this swim thing and I had never had any confirmation that he could actually swim - Hmmm!
SD literally yelled my arse across the pond! STROKE STROKE STROKE he yelled (fuck) every time I tried to stop he pushed water in my face - Oh - and he refused to let me wear my wet suit bootees, I had had them for years - used to wind surf a little and they stopped me slipping on the board and anything nasty from nibbling my toes.
TPT and his gentle, caring swim guide turned every now and then SD was really going at me! 'you can do this' he yelled 'STROKE STROKE STROKE' My temper snapped one more splash in the face and he is dead meat.... SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH! no mercy .
I did it - took ages but I got across - at the shore I almost chortled at the look of concern on the faces of TPT and our gal pal - i think they were a tad concerned at how hard SD had pushed me and splashed :)
The wet suit helped so much I reckon it increases buoyancy by at least 60% LOVE it and its pink flashes...
we were on shore ... I assumed we would be walking back - I was done! oh - how wrong I was .. not even a pause and SD pushed me back ... 'STROKE STROKE STROKE' fuck!
wow whaddya know - it was just a little easier the second time... third time (YUP - NO MERCY!) he said he was 'right behind' me... I was half way before I realised he was not behind me !... that was it... I could swim in open water YEEE HA! I was the happiest swimmer at Walden that day... probably the most exhausted too! the triathlon is ON...
We went at least once a week , occasionally twice to swim at Walden - love it now... much more than the 2 places I swam for the tri's both swims were very poor, second last in the first swim and in the bottom 1/4 for the second- but like I said earlier from today I breathe on both sides and will do better next year!
SD still yells at me in the pool and I still get cross - but not so much.... thanks SD.... I need to swim 1.2 miles for the 70.3 Iron man in August... I've done the distance twice now at Walden Pond ... BUT its still a 'work in progress' Bring on the spring... pool swimming is like running on a treadmill - IT SUCKS!
After the event!
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