One down, one to go.
I swam well in the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim last Sunday, dropping 12 minutes off last year’s time and coming in at the two-hour mark. I would have loved to have knocked another 41 seconds off my time, and broken 2 hours, but I’m not complaining.
Every June, about 600 swimmers race across the Bay, between the twin Bay Bridge spans, starting at Sandy Point State Park and ending at a small beach on Kent Island. The shipping channels are closed to commercial ships, and the swimmers are watched over by an armada of 100 boats and kayaks, two helicopters and 700 volunteers.
The 4.4-mile race didn’t start off well. The scrum at the start was awful. I was kicked in the head, run over and smushed by other swimmersâ for an entire mile. Plus, the water during the first two miles was much choppier than last year.
Early on, I thought, “This is going to be a different race than last year.” And it turned out to be — but in a good way.
The water calmed down after the initial choppiness, and the currents didn’t pull us sideways as much as last year. The current picked up in the last mile, though, and it was a struggle to stay inside the south bridge span and not be disqualified.
I raced the last 400 meters in fairly protected water, trying to sprint as much as possible since I knew I was within striking distance of the two-hour mark. I accidentally ran over a couple swimmers who inexplicably stood up in front of me — so close to the finish — and raced for the beach.
I placed 10th in my age group and 181st overall. And my shoulders held up relatively well. They were sore, but no shooting pains like last year. In fact, my upper thigh hurt more than my shoulder, and I found myself limiting my kick occasionally.
Some slower swimmers were caught in the strengthening current and found themselves swimming for 20 minutes without going anywhere, leading to them being pulled out before finishing. Still, only 12 were pulled out, compared with about 100 last year.
After finishing, instead of celebrating, I spent the next two hours waiting for my belongings — my clothes, glasses, flip-flops, towel and phone — which were stuck on the Bay Bridge with my boyfriend after a crash closed the eastbound span. Fortunately, it was a nice (well, hot) day, and I was able to meet some other swimmers. Finally, we joined friends for an Eastern Shore crab feast where we recounted our tales of the crossing.
After that half day of rest, I couldn’t take the week off — the D.C. Triathlon awaits.
Monday morning I was up early, biking 13 miles before work. My body was sore and my legs tired, but I did my last hard bike ride before the triathlon on Sunday. On Tuesday morning, I ran for 3.5 miles, followed by an exercise video at night. Wednesday night, I went to yoga class followed by my first (slow) swim practice since the Bay. The rest of the week I spent with easier workouts, trying to rest up before the Sunday race (half-mile swim, 12-mile bike, 4.1-mile run).
I’m not expecting great things on Sunday, since I haven’t trained that hard for the triathlon. Instead, I’m using it as a test to see if I can run without pain — and I wanted to run and bike the streets of D.C. when the roads are closed to traffic. I’m not so enthused about swimming in the Potomac. And now I’m realizing that I’m not going to be able to wear my wetsuit, since the chafing on my neck from it was so extensive in the Bay Swim that I have second-degree burns.
I hope to have fun on Sunday and not put as much pressure on myself as I did for the Bay. But then again, I haven’t trained hard for six months for this. Plus, I have competed in only one other triathlon, so I don’t have enough experience to build up my expectations.
And, I’m not sure how awake I’ll be. With a 5:30 a.m. start time, my alarm will go off at 3:30. I hope they have coffee at the finish line.
