This morning, before my alarm clock buzzed away at 4:45 AM,
I turned over to the green hue showing 4:40 AM.
I closed my eyes and thought 10 minutes passed only to open them again
and show 4:44 AM. Might as well get up.
I walked outside to check the email to see if Coach Danielle
made any changes to the scheduled Open Water Swim (OWS) or the Bike ride after. No emails!
Let's get some electrolytes from the Coconut Water in the fridge, then
flip the lights on to waken Irene. She
still did not get up and I eventually had to speak her name to brush off the
Sand from her Eyes place there by Mr. Sandman.
Most of our gear was in the truck, just to get dressed and
drive down to Corey Beach in Bayport. It
was still misting and as soon as we arrived a little after 6:00am, the mist
lifted. The sky was cloudy. At the same time, I noticed my Facebook
Friend John, also pull up. It was his
first OWS of the season, and part of his training for Ironman Lake Placid. He's probably the most positive person I have
ever met and was itching to get into the anticipated cold water.
Irene and I walked over to some picnic tables and squeezed
into our wetsuits. We walked over to the
waters edge and walked right in. The
water was not that terribly that cold, probably the wetsuit kept me warm. However, my feet did not balk as I got up to
waist high and put my face in the water and started to swim toward the first
buoy. What was unexpected was the water
was fairly clear. I could see a few
rocks and small crab shells, nothing icky or disgusting.
So, I looked over to about a football field length away a
red buoy with a few swim caps swimming towards it and away from it. I guess that is the direction I needed to
swim towards. I made sure I was calm by
taking easy strokes doing my best from what I learned and practiced in the
lined bottom concrete fish tank with the addition lay of neoprene rubber on my
skin. It was very easy to do my best to
get to the other buoy as fast as I could, but I wanted to make sure my
technique as strong and smooth. As I get
stronger over the next several months, my better technique will take ever and I
started winding my arms faster and faster.
I finally got to the other side, and it seemed like my
sighting was good with minimal amount of course corrections. In the distance I could see Irene's cap in
the water with Coach Danielle paddling along side on her Stand Up
Paddleboard. This time last year, she
was just learning to swim and I am so proud of her! Eventually for this training she did a 1/4
mile and that is enough for Smith Point Sprint Triathlon, next week.
I ended up with 3/4 of a mile for my swim session and I was
very happy. It was time to get on our
bikes and head out. As I walked towards
the shore, my felt a stick on the back of my neck and I realized it was some
chafing from the zipper pull that I wound up so that it would not interfere with
my arms.
The group of us headed out east and Irene had an hour of
bike riding, so she rode around the area and she had a great workout. I did my best to keep up, and as the distance
between me and the lead group got further apart. I focused on what was in front
of me and did my best to respond my gear shifting based on the inclines,
decline and my cadence. As soon as I get
my power meter, I will be able to measure how much power I am dishing out and
focus on that number. I think I like
that because the gamer in me will focus on that.
I decided to make a left, because I noticed someone from the
group who had some derailleur issues make a left. He was not that far ahead and I followed
thinking he knew which way to go. All of
the sudden, my friend came up from behind me and I was like, I definitely made
the wrong turn :) A few minutes later,
they were gone. My schedule had me bike
for 45 minutes out and 45 minutes back, but I felt good. I rode around until, I somehow reached William Floyd Parkway
and I turned back.
One my way back, I latched on to someone who seemed like was
going in the right direction and hugged his rear wheel. Eventually, we came up to some construction,
and I asked, "I must have passed Corey Beach?" The biker said, that's about 3 miles
back. Oh well!
I finally found the rode and Irene patiently waited for
me. She was excited with her workout and
was thinking of running as well, however she did not have her running shoes, so
she just waited. I suggested running on
the beach, but she opted to say, "Nah, I don't like running on sand."
Overall I biked 34+ miles, the longest bike ride ever!
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