My wetsuit is ready to go.
In theory so am I.
I have trained hard since January, the water is a temperate 73 degrees, and I have new prescription goggles so I can see better.
And what the heck, I swam under the Bay Bridge for more than two hours last year in the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim.
So why am I terrified about swimming in the 4.4-mile race on Sunday?
It’s the bridge. It’s a monster.
One of the longest over-water structures in the world, the bridge looms in front of you, its gray cabled towers reaching skyward. Swimming under it, you realize quickly how small and insignificant you are.
Even the rock pilings around the bridge’s supports are huge when you’re swimming next to them, far from the mere pebbles motorists see as they drive across the bridge.
I drove out to Sandy Point State Park last weekend for some last-week prep in the Bay. I swam for a solid hour — and had to fight a bit more chop than I was expecting (good for training!) — but the real purpose of my visit was to come to grips with the bridge.
From the beach at Sandy Point, the bridge is awe-inspiring; from the water it’s intimidating. My swim was more of a psychological workout more than a physical one.
The swim is long and choppy, and this year I’m more concerned with how my shoulders will hold up than last year. Chalk that up to experience. My supposedly “good” shoulder ached for the last mile and a half of the race last year, and it hurt during the relatively tame two-mile Jim McDonnell Lake Swim in Reston two weeks ago.
I feel greater pressure this year, too, since I inevitably will compare my time with the one I posted last year. I keep telling myself it’s a whole new race: The currents will be different, the weather could be different, the time of day is different. But I know I’ll be disappointed if I swim slower.
One aspect I’m not looking forward to: the 8 a.m. start. That doesn’t sound too bad, unless you have to drive out to Sandy Point from Silver Spring and be ready by the 7:15 a.m. pre-race briefing on the beach. (Note: This is sleeping in compared with the ungodly 5:30 a.m. start of the D.C. Triathlon next weekend.)
Still, some of my fellow 600 swimmers say an early start is better. Bob Benson, who has swum the Bay many times and at 74 was the oldest swimmer to finish the race last year, pointed out that the water is typically calmer in the mornings. He thought the current was particularly strong last year, so maybe this year’s swim will be easier.
His theory will help me drag myself out of bed before the sun rises on Sunday.
Then I’ll look forward to a good, pain-free swim, a tasty crab cake lunch with my boyfriend and coach Tom, and a long afternoon nap.
As for the bridge, it’s getting smaller all the time — in my imagination at least.
