Ti 2 Y

So... I'm back, and I have survived to tell my tale. The race started in a cove off of Yerba Buena Island (apparently they couldn't get permission to start from the wharfs on Treasure Island, but the distance and the course stayed almost identical). The beginning of the race went fairly well. The current was slack, and the waters were calm. The first half of the race seemed to fly by, and I seemed to be staying solidly in the rear of the middle of the pack. But at about halfway, several large container ships must have left port, as we were hammered by a lot of large waves. I kept losing my bearing, and sucking in mouthfuls of water. My pace slowed considerably, and then I noticed that I wasn't moving very quickly in relation to the towers of the Bay Bridge. The tide was beginning to ebb, and I had to fight to stay on my course towards the Hills Brothers Building. The fact that I was able to maintain the straight course suggests that the current wasn't very strong, but it was still tough going. Eventually I managed to find my rhythm, sadly too late to do any good as far as passing other swimmers. ;) Finally, I could see the balloon arch marking the finish line. I stayed with the two swimmers that were just in front of me, passing one of them in the last 50 meters. As I climbed onto the steps, my leg (quite naturally) cramped up and I nearly fell. Thankfully they had people to guide our stagger up to the timing strip. I finished the 1.5 miles with a time of 1:14, which is 22 minutes slower than my last race of the same distance. Everyone seems to have had much slower times, so it wasn't just me (not that it could have had anything to do with swimming .75 miles, riding 24 miles and running 4 miles on Saturday. And then not getting enough sleep after watching a movie and going to a bar with some of my friends :))... Well, overall, the event was fun and well organized. Especially considering that this was the first Ti2Y swim. I'll probably do it again next year...

So... I'm back, and I have survived to tell my tale. The race started in a cove off of Yerba Buena Island (apparently they couldn't get permission to start from the wharfs on Treasure Island, but the distance and the course stayed almost identical). The beginning of the race went fairly well. The current was slack, and the waters were calm. The first half of the race seemed to fly by, and I seemed to be staying solidly in the rear of the middle of the pack. But at about halfway, several large container ships must have left port, as we were hammered by a lot of large waves. I kept losing my bearing, and sucking in mouthfuls of water. My pace slowed considerably, and then I noticed that I wasn't moving very quickly in relation to the towers of the Bay Bridge. The tide was beginning to ebb, and I had to fight to stay on my course towards the Hills Brothers Building. The fact that I was able to maintain the straight course suggests that the current wasn't very strong, but it was still tough going. Eventually I managed to find my rhythm, sadly too late to do any good as far as passing other swimmers. ;) Finally, I could see the balloon arch marking the finish line. I stayed with the two swimmers that were just in front of me, passing one of them in the last 50 meters. As I climbed onto the steps, my leg (quite naturally) cramped up and I nearly fell. Thankfully they had people to guide our stagger up to the timing strip. I finished the 1.5 miles with a time of 1:14, which is 22 minutes slower than my last race of the same distance. Everyone seems to have had much slower times, so it wasn't just me (not that it could have had anything to do with swimming .75 miles, riding 24 miles and running 4 miles on Saturday. And then not getting enough sleep after watching a movie and going to a bar with some of my friends :))... Well, overall, the event was fun and well organized. Especially considering that this was the first Ti2Y swim. I'll probably do it again next year...