I've been unable to swim for the last 10 days making me quite a nervous wreck for the Santa Barbara Channel Swim tonight. In fact, I've been fretting about it for days. Between work, family and just life in general you can get the doubts running through your head. It's a 6-person relay with 1-hour legs. The water should be in the low to mid 60's so no issues there. The worse case scenario is me rolling over and kicking to fill my hour. I'm kidding, but if that's what it took I'd do it!
Last night my friend from work suggested that I swim with her husband and his friends who joined the triathlon mania last year. They train together 4-5 days a week - swimming, biking, running. They are disciplined and I am a sloth. Today was their open water swim day at Venice Beach. The offer was so gracious and I really did want to get in the water so I accepted.
At 5:45am I stood in my swimsuit and swim coat on a corner in LA with Ivan waiting for the guys. I have to admit, I was nervous. I'm always nervous swimming with new people. I'm not fast and don't want to hold anyone up. They would be in wetsuits and me a skin so even more of an advantage to the home team.
The ride to the beach was funny, with chatter reminiscent of a South End zodiac ride in the morning. Yes, it's SERC-LA! My sides were hurting from laughing so much that by the time we hit the water I was relaxed and having a blast.
The water was warm with some easy rollers. It was much clearer than in the San Francisco Bay and I was able to stay mid-pack of the guys which was quite comforting. I could feel my shoulders start to release allowing my arms to stretch out and rotating more. After 47 minutes in the water it was time to go to work.
Thanks guys for a great swim!
