The second wave had gone through me like a school of tuna. I had only covered a fraction of the total distance and I knew that I could not cover it on my back. I had to freestyle or quit.
At the moment quitting looked like a good option. Finally, by means of back crawl and side stroke I made it to the first turn buoy. Immediately I was a kayak on the other side and I thrashed toward it.
I grabbed the side, but soon discovered that I could stand. I had to get it together and continue, or wade to shore and call it a day. I focused on trying to relax and getting good deep breaths. I had to slow my heart rate down. I waited what seemed to be an eternity, but was probably only about a minute. I set off again. By now I had a little bit of space to swim without hitting or being hit.
I started counting strokes. Ten at a time. I would do ten strokes and then peak and see if I was going in a good direction. I was focusing on being relaxed. It was working. I was getting comfortable and making progress, slow as it was. I still had a long way to go, but after awhile I realized that I was going to make it. Stroke, breathe, repeat. Once in awhile someone would come from behind and touch or hit me, but basically I was able to keep my space.
After making the last turn I was swimming directly into the rising sun and really had a hard time seeing anything except the mass of swimmers in front of me. I just kept churning and eventually made it to the shore to exit the water. What a great feeling! I was on the verge of quitting, but I regathered my nerve and persevered. Once I hit dry land, I was good to go for the bike and the run.
MJ Lopez. Nico Luzardo. Otto Gerst. Paulina Rodriguez. Philip Sonov. Sasja Jackson. Sergio Roldan. Shannon Pope. Will Featherston. Aeri York. Bill Babcock. Bryan Kraham. Bryan Leavitt. Chris Gause. Chris Mills. Colin Ocker. Courtney Livaudais. Danny Sanchez. Enrique Centeno. Eric Pogodinski. Guillermo Maldonado. Ignacio Marquez. Jarrett Hubert. Jeff Goodwin. Jennifer Hedges. Joe Aulbert. John Oldfield. Karen Maldonado. Kate DeShetler. Leslie Clinchard. Liz Baugher. Mark LeBlanc. Mark Stein.
Matthew Perches. Max Chavez. Michelle Leavitt. Michelle LeBlanc. Female Overall, Bike prime. Mike Young. Paola Romanos.
0コメント