I thought I might finish near last place as I drove to last weekend's Silver Lake Swim. At that point finishing last did not really concern me - it was a sunny morning, and this swim event served as a good workout and a fine opportunity to work on open water swim technique. But upon arriving at the lake my expectations start to change.
I don't mean to sound arrogant or disrespectful, but the athletes that surrounded me at the starting line of the Swim did not look particularly, well, athletic. I have grown accustomed to events like the Frankfurt Ironman and staring up at strapping, muscular German young men with their focused game faces as they determinedly rack their $10,000 bikes, drink their complex energy drinks and talk intensely about their 20+ hour per week training regimes.
I arrive at Silver Lake and find myself chatting with a neighborly, silver haired woman in front of me in the event registration line who talks to me at length about her grandchildren's summer camp. I look around and at least two-thirds of the field I would characterize as being above an optimal weight. I start to think that I should be pretty competitive.
Yet when the gun went off almost all of these other athletes burst out ahead of me, and even as I tell myself to surge toward the first buoy I find the rest of the crowd pulling further and further ahead.
My first mile was a disappointing 33+ minutes. The second mile loop did not seem much faster as I zig-zagged around the buoys, the swimmer ahead of me far in the distance. But somehow, (as is always the case in my swims), I seemed to settle into a rhythm and speed up -- I was just over 30 minutes for the second mile. My goal for the day had been to break an hour, so at least I was on pace during the second half. I just somehow need to improve my starting speed and my sighting.
Oh and I didn't finish last. A couple other swimmers straggled in behind me. But I didn't see the grandmother at the finish - she must have been well ahead of me.
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