Fish swim, I don't.

Good or bad news first? My blog so it's my choice. :-) Mid day yesterday, while suffering through the Rotary District Conference, I got the news that I had come in third place in my AG at the triathlon. Official results and times aren't up yet but I heard from Mike who must have been there for the awards ceremony. Melle took first in her AG. Not too shabby for a couple newbies.

Now the bad news...coming off of yesterdays high we headed out to Lake Del Valle for an open water swim practice with the Silicon Valley Tri Club. I asked the leader how long of a swim we'd be doing. 'Just over a mile, about 40 minutes' he says calmly. I keep waiting for the punch line and I'm sure the look of terror on my face is obvious. 'But you can go as long as you're comfortable with.' I'm only slightly relieved. The last time I swam in open water was at Ally's birthday houseboat weekend which prompted this whole "I wanna do a triathlon" fantasy. It was prompted not because I easily swam across the lake and back but because I COULDN'T! There is something wrong with the wiring of people who attempt something, fail and then think they can/should sign up for crazy events to prove they can. Commit me now because I am that wrongly wired individual.

We suit up, slap a condom on our head and shove our eyes behind two clear teaspoon shaped bowls. Real athletes call these goggles. We giggle. This all feels a bit silly when the other 10 people are going to swim a mile and I'm going to prove just how fast I'll sink. The water is cool but not horrible. Even a temperature lightweight like me can get in. It helps that everyone is moaning a bit about the temperature. We float, or they float as my feet are still firmly planted on the earth where I like them to be. A moment later they are off. Melle and I just sort of look at each other questioning how far we'll go. "Until I'm tired" Melle says. I suggest she turn around before she's tired as my CPR skills are not current. We head out on our own. Swimming in a lake is nothing like swimming in a pool. There is no lane line to direct you, in fact you can't see anything but green murk. There is no side of the pool for security and there are these fish that just seem to be laughing at my every attempt to swim. It's not long before the majority of the group has dropped me. I'm starting to feel my shoulders from yesterday and realize I'm a bit more drained than I had thought. Besides, it's a big lake and a bit intimidating to be in it. I can't get my breathing right, my legs seem to think working on Sunday is a sin and I swear the lake is draining into my right ear. I stick close to the shore. I would have apologized to the fisherman but there are fish right beneath me and I don't think anything I was doing was scaring them off.

I'm tired and have no way of judging how far I've actually swam. Melle is tired. Yeah, I have a tired friend, I'm not alone in this disaster. We opt to do short laps out and back to the boat dock. If I start to drown at least a kayaker will hear my screams and come get me.

A couple arrives back in. We chat with them and ask them how far they think 200 meters is. The gentleman says 'out to the white buoy'. Melle can't see the buoy. I do and decide that I have a lot of work to do in the next two weeks. If all I have to do is swim to the buoy I'll be fine but if I have to swim to the buoy and back for a total of 400 meters (the swim distance for WF) I'll be floating belly side up like a dead fish in no time. Melle and I just giggle. What a demoralizing start to such a beautiful day. At least we know we now need to get out of the pool sometimes and get into open water. I'm guessing the two weeks is going to fly by in a blink of an eye because I am now really dreading the swim leg of this looming event. I was only partly joking when I said I was going to clear my schedule and be in the water every day this week.

Tomorrow Rod and I are driving down to Lake San Antonio so he can test ride the Long Course bike route. I'm packing my wetsuit and my estate plans so friends won't have to fight over who gets Rutzie. I need to see exactly how far this 400 meters is and just how drained it's going to leave me before I have to complete two more activities before earning bragging rights to say I've done Wildflower. Right now, if I actually complete the swim leg I'll be thrilled.