The Kelp Crawl

The swim is definitely the interview of the triathlon for me. If I can just get through the swim, the rest of the race will be absolutely exhilarating and wonderful. The problem I'm finding is that no matter how hard I try (the swim lessons, the practice sessions), swimming presents an very interesting mind-boggling challenging. I need to get over this in the next two months, so I will continue to tighten my goggles, and kick those legs. (Now if I could just feel comfortable with the stroke!)

My fitness level is very good, but I'm not very efficient in the water, which is making me crazy. I feel that I want to put my best foot (or arm) forward, but everyone else's best foot and arm are more efficient than mine. Then I get flustered, which makes the stroke and breathing more difficult, thus rendering me inefficient. Unfortunately the swim is first, and my beloved running is last, so I'm going to use the run as my carrot to just get through, but I won't be able to bike or run if I can't get out of the water.

I joined a training team at work, The Mighty Broncos, who meets a few times a week for swimming, running, and cycling. This weekend, I joined TMB for an open water swim clinic in Monterrey at the exact location we'll be doing the Pacific Grove Triathlon. Miss Midwest over here (that's me), has never swum in the ocean. Oh sure! I've put my face under and taken a few strokes, but nothing like what I experienced over the weekend...

The Equipment: I had to rent a wetsuit, which was a new experience, and also kind of a fun one. The wetsuit was marvelous in the ocean! Not only did I get some insulation from cold water, but it also created buoyancy, so I won't drown! Pretty awesome. I want to swim in a wetsuit all the time, but I'm sure they would kick me out of the gym pool. HA! As a contact lens wearer, I worried about goggles falling off, or not protecting my eyes, but so far so good.

The View: I thought I would be more scared to look down in the water and see murky shadows beneath, but I wasn't. The view was actually quite pretty below.

The Fauna: There are no sharks in this water, and I have no fear that sharks will come an attack over a thousand people splashing around in the water. I'm also not scared that a fish will come by, or a seal with bark at me. I'm a friend of the animals.

The Flora: Lover's Point in Monterrey is not just a swim, but the "kelp crawl"! Do I think kelp is disgusting - no. Do I care that it is slimy - no. Do I care that it tastes gross - not really. What did bother me about the kelp is that is basically takes my inefficient swimming, and makes it even more inefficient. In fact, for about 50% of the "swim" I was kicking and army crawling through kelp. Boo for the kelp.

The Salt: Ugh, I hate the taste of salty water. I'm not worried that the water is in any way dirty, but just the taste alone made me want to vomit.

I need to be successful in an interview/swim process so I can do what I'm good at - the biking, and swimming! I want to kick butt, but I need to get out of the water first. Unfortunately there are others who can interview and swim better than I can. In the case of the triathlon, I may catch up with some of them. In the case of an interview, I'll never get the chance to prove myself and do what I'm really good at.

I guess it was good to experience the open water swim before the tri, instead of just assuming pool practice would get me though. This will be quite a mental challenge. Not as challenging as the job search, but maybe if I get through, it will make me feel all-around stronger in other aspects of my life. Right now, I'd rather swim than be rejected by another job interview.