by Marsha O'Mara
What happens when you don't
listen to your coach? You have a bad swim. What happens when you do
listen to your cycling coach? You have a great bike ride. So Lloyd
has been telling me that when I go to the open water swims or even to the pool
that I need to start swimming as soon as I get in the water and not sit around
trying to get acclimated since I won't have the opportunity at the race.
But I remember from last year's Iron Girl Columbia that we had 6 minutes to sit
around in the water before our wave started so I paid him absolutely no
attention and didn't do what he said to do in practice. Well, at least
not for the open water swims. To my credit, I did try to do it in the
pool. :-)
Well, to my shock, the week
of the Iron Girl Columbia race, they announced that the swim would be a time
trial swim which means that they call 2 people at a time every 5 seconds and
you immediately get in the water and start swimming. I still didn't think
it would be an issue. Well, I was so wrong! As soon as I got in the
water for the race, I began to panic. I was able to swim to the first
kayak and hung on to it for a bit. When I got my breath a little bit
(because I never fully caught my breath for the whole swim) I started swimming
again, but I started to panic again so I stopped at the next kayak.
Another athlete came up to the kayak and was saying that she wanted to quit
because she was panicking. Another teammate of mine was also at the kayak
and we were both telling her that she could do it. Don't quit. Even
though I was having the same thoughts of quitting. But I would never
admit that to anyone else. LOL! So I was trying to motivate her and
motivate myself as well. I think she eventually swam off but I stayed
there hanging on for dear life. My teammate left as well to continue her
swim and after a little bit, I decided to just do it. So I started
swimming and rolling on my back and swimming regularly again at intervals.
I think what also made this
different than last year is that I was in the last wave last year and there was
no one to come from behind and swim over me. I pretty much was able to
swim without interference last year. But this year, since we had the time
trial start and I wasn't in the last wave, there were people all over swimming
on my right and left and coming from behind. I never had that type of
experience before. So I got water splashed in my face and up my
nose. I swallowed a good bit of water too. As I turned to go around
the bend to make my way back to the finish, I decided to stop at another kayak
to catch my breath again because there was no amount of deep breathing that was
allowing me to control my breath. So I stopped and asked him where we
were on the course. Someone said we were more than half way. I
looked at my watch and I was 24 minutes in. Last year I had finished my
swim in 40 minutes and in practice I was doing it in a little over 30 so I knew
this was not looking good as far as time was concerned. But I just really
wanted to finish.
I finally made my way again
and after a while I got caught up in the weeds or whatever was in the water and
I remembered from last year that this was near the finish line so I knew I was
almost done. Finally, my swim stroke started to come together and I was
swimming like I was taught to swim instead of in panic mode. Never was I
happier to make it to the finish line...of the swim. I still had the bike
and run to do. But honestly at that point, I just wanted to be
done. My psyche was all messed up.
However, when I did get on
the bike, I felt really good. I had just gotten my tires pumped up that
morning after not pumping them up in weeks. I was told they were really
flat. Is that why I was riding so slow before? Possibly. My
cycling coach did tell us to pump up our tires before each ride. As you
can tell, I don't know how to listen. So I was riding nice and
fast. Even though this is a hilly course, I was passing everyone on the
ride. I don't think anyone passed me on the ride at all. Why I say
I did listen to my coach is he says to always pedal on the downhills because
that's how you gain your momentum to get up the hills and it just gives you
more speed. So I did that for the whole ride. While everyone else
was coasting, I was pedaling. And I was MOVING! It felt so good to
let the wind blow against my face. This also was my first race using my
new clipless pedals and I could definitely tell the difference with them.
I highly recommend those pedals for riding.
The run, although my
favorite of the 3 sports, was uneventful. It was hot and hilly...not a
good combo. But since it was the only thing that stood between me and the
finish line, I got it done. Of course, I broke out into a sprint going
down the finish line shoot. I was so happy to see my Team OnPoint Fitness
members at the finish line waving me in and giving high fives. Definitely
a great cheering squad.
Overall, I'm just really
glad I finished. I'm glad I improved on the bike, but I really need to
get stronger in the swim. I need to be more comfortable in the open water
for sure. I will not let this race get the best of me.
Thanks to my coaches for
knowing their stuff. Hopefully next time, I'll pay attention. :-)
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