On Sunday September 12, I lined up for my first triathlon. The event featured a 250 meter open water swim, a seven mile bike ride, and a two mile run. Almost a week has passed and I have finally stopped grinning. Well, occasionally I still catch myself grinning. What an amazing experience!
First, a shout out to my amazing Swim Coach, Carol Ann. Without her I could not have made that swim. In two weeks, she totally prepared me for what would have been the most terrifying experience of my life.
When I met Carol Ann, there were so many obstacles for me and that swim. One, I could 'swim' but I could not breathe while swimming. Since learning to hold my breathe for 12 minutes or more was not an option, this was a huge obstacle. Two, I had never swam 250 meters at once. Three, I had never swam in open water before.
There were some big positive things going for me too. I was not afraid of the water. I knew how to float and I could 'swim' on my back. Call me crazy or dumb or dumb and crazy but I figured the worst case scenario would be me rolling over on my back and raising my hand to be rescued during the swim portion of the race. Fortunately, I did fine.
It took me a long time to complete the swim but I did it and gained a new nickname in the process. I am now Kechie aka Swims with One Eye. One of my contact lenses came out just as I reached the first buoy. At that point, I had maybe swam 50 of the 250 yards. My vision is horrible and trying to see with one contact lens in and one out while being tossed about by the water felt like I was swimming slightly impaired.
I felt like I had won the lottery when I reached the ladder to the pier. I ran to the transition area to start the bike ride telling every race volunteer I saw on the way there "I didn't drown!". The last guy gave me a puzzled look so I added "I just started swim lessons two weeks ago." He got it. Commended me on a "good" swim time and reminded me I had "two more" sports to complete.
When I reached my bike, I looked down in my goggles that were hanging around my neck and found my missing contact lens. I was so excited. I let out a little scream. It would be after the race before I realized that there was no way I could have biked and then run with one contact lens in and one out.
As expected, the bike and the run were easy. I giggled and grinned the whole way. I was so excited that I completed that swim.
