Tuesday, May 01, 2007

A Starting Point

I'm not going to pretend that the REAL reason I haven't done much swimming in open water is because I've just been SOOOOOO busy.

Because although I have - SERIOUSLY, been SOOOOOO busy - I've also just been SOOOOOO petrified of the open water. Of the lack of walls. And the lack of a bottom I can see. Not to mention, touch. And since the only open water I can get to without a car is the San Francisco Bay, I can't deny that I've also been SOOOOOO afraid of how freaking COOOOOOLD that water would be.

But she made me promise. And on Tuesday, after work, we decided to go. I packed my bag: wetsuit, towel, Body Glide, flip flops, cap and goggles. I said good-bye to The Cat. I told him I loved him. And that if he ever had any desire to scratch me in the eyes, now was his chance. That if he did it now, I wouldn't get mad at him.

Naturally, he didn't pay any attention to me.

So we headed to the water, to Aquatic Park. I could feel my heart thumping the entire way there. It pounded so forcefully, I seriously wondered if an accelerated heart rate ever caused a hair-line fracture in one's sternum. We parked the car, got into our wetsuits, and headed to the beach. AER, who is seriously the most WONDERFUL human being in the entire universe, tried her best to keep me calm and laughing.

She did look pretty silly in her wetsuit and cap...

We entered the water, and my worst fear was realized. That water is miserable. But wetsuits work. After taking a pee - perhaps the best thing about triathlons is not having to wait in the line for port-o-potties - we swam out to the bouyies to start our swim.

But I didn't do that well. My heart was pounding. And I couldn't catch my breath. I started to swim and the water was just SO COLD on my face, my hands, and my feet. I hated not being able to see. I hated the water tossing me off of my course. And I hated how hard it was to breathe.

I started to have trouble breathing. And I started to really panic. But AER never left my side. We swam, then stopped and floated. She talked me down when I became too wound up in the intensity of the cold water, of the overwhelming nature of swimming in The San Francisco Bay.

I only made it a half mile before I just couldn't deal with it anymore. So we swam to shore. And when we made it to the sand, AER hugged me. I started balling. One of those short but sweet wails of exhaustion, embarrassment, sadness, and on some level, a tiny bit of happiness.

My first swim in the San Francisco Bay is behind me. It can't get much worse than that.

7 comments:

Cliff said...

Nic,

Thanks for the comment. That sounds like a great swim to me.

My first open water swim was in an actual triathlon. I didn't realize u are suppose to practice before hand ;). I swim breastroke :P.

Next season (last year) i decided to pick up free style. I decide to go to th elake again and didn't went in the water for no more than 2 min before i bailed out.

As you say, it was hard to breathe, hard to move. I felt like i am going to drown.

Next thing I know..end of the year I am swimming 2 km open water just like that.

a.maria said...

OMGOMG!!!! you swam in the SF bay!!! thats so exciting! super high fives, lady!

but ewwwwwww. you peed your pants!!!

walchka said...

The first open water swim is always scary. Sometimes it's like learning to swim all over again.

Congrats on getting through your first open water swim!

Scotty said...

Prior to my first triathlon, the only swimming I had done in the ocean was playing around.

The water was supposed to be about 68 (not too bad to me). I decided to go without one.... that morning the water was 61/62. I swear, I was probably one of 3 or 4 people that wasnt wearing one.

"I'll be fine!", I thought.

Gun goes off.. ran into the water and such, and I swear the moment my head/chest touched the water I realized how friggin' cold it was. Needless to say, the cold literally knocked the breath out of me. I couldnt breathe, swim, etc for about the first 400 yards (till I warmed up a bit). Those 1st 400 were horrible.

Next time around, I wore a wetsuit.

Mike said...

Nic- good on ya for getting out there and having a go! In the SF bay, no less!
First swim in a wetsuit can feel claustrophobic..the whole panic, trouble breathing.

It gets easier!

You definitely got the hard one out of the way first..you typically won't have to deal with water that cold in any triathlon! Lake swims (Wildflower) are much easier.

Habeela said...

Why is it that these little steps are the ones that completely humble us?! Congrats on braving the open water.

Brooke said...

Wow, you get the bravery prize for the day.

Open water sounds scary to me too.