Bali Ocean Swim 10K - Swim

And we're off! I'm in no hurry. (somewhere in the back, waddling) This is not a running race. This should have (at least) a standing-water if not deep-water start like most decent OWS (and many triathlons) do. How would marathon runners feel if they had to swim a lap before starting and at the finish?!


Still in no hurry (great mid-waddle pic from Sideshow Bob). Oddly enough, though, there are 8 swimmers still behind me in even less of a hurry!


Race? There was a race?
Yeah, and it kind of sucked.*** (See comments under Race Evaluation at end). Course was likely short; however, the buoys and boats serving as buoys that we swam around kept moving, too. GPS from my friend Giampaolo of the 5K showed 4.45K; figure ours was 8.9 or 9K. Regardless, it would still be a blistering PR for me, which considering the wedding and later food poisoning run-up (and shoulder strain from all the barfing, no joke), I was really, really happy with.

The 1st 2.25km stretch out across the bay was relatively smooth; focused on long, stretching, powerful strokes. Just thoroughly enjoyed the water and experience and needed no distractions. It seemed to go very quickly and at the turnaround boat they had my drinks lined up for me to just grab, which I did, slugged from, and went.

The way back SUCKED. Seriously swelly, choppy, and miserable. No way to establish any kind of rhythm or technique, so I focused on strong fast flutter kicks to be a kind of motor and rudder while I did a high, fairly straight-arm recovery with a very fast turnover to just try and get through the water. Swallowed a lot of seawater; once I just flipped on my back and did some backstroke to get a break from being slapped in the face every single stroke. (I also did that on the second stretch coming back in, which was even worse).

Just to break up a boring race report of a kinda crappy race, here's the 5Kers running in to start their race (30min after our 10K):


After the turn buoy boat on the starting end (drinks similarly quickly produced, thank you), the 2nd stretch out across the bay was smooth again (going along with the chop and swells rather than against them). Unfortunately the tide had turned so had to swim well against it to not get dragged out to sea. This also meant and was when both 5 and 10K swimmers on their way back were colliding with the 10Kers on their 2nd lap back out. Crap planning. However, it brought me into very close proximity with Sweania, enough for her to recognize me and cheer me on! What a champion.

And after the far-end turn buoy boat, coming back was a real nightmare again, but worse because with the swell and chop the tide was also dragging us out to sea. FUN! No really ... it was. I had a great time. This is why we do it! Adventure! I also seriously started focusing on gratitude (A-Z ... mostly food and people :) ), and then in the last quarter of the race I was just seriously focusing on food. Every arm punch into a wave-chop I would think A is for Apples, I like to eat. B is for Butter, I like to eat. C is for chicken, I like to eat ... et cetera. And I went through the alphabet a few times that way! After the final turn buoy boat, it was just a few hundred metres in, but ... tide's coming out and current dragging to the right, which is into rocks, reef and jetty. Half fighting the water and half trying to catch swells and breaking waves in, I just kept to my old tried-and-true mantra: PIGLET. BURGER. PIGLET. BURGER. PIGLET. BURGER.

Here's the 10K overall (young female! Yay!) winner coming in--yeah, that's some serious water we had to get through.


Finally, finally, I got through enough pigletburgerchanting to make it in, and as soon as my hand hit sand I got up and started booking it in. I'm a fachin' triathlete. I RUN out of the water.


Kingsley and Sideshow Bob were cheering for me as I ran up :) and I was immediately handed a bottle of cold water by a volunteer after the line. Good stuff.

The strategy of starting out painfully, miserably slowly (hell, I had 10K worth to go faster later with if I felt great, right?) was probably not the wisest considering the kind of waves and strong inflow we had to get through out to the first buoy. It's actually not a great starting strategy for any kind of mass swim start for a relatively decent swimmer--it's go like a bat out of hell to get out past the surf and stay with some good feet, then settle into a distance pace on a nice draft. Oh well. Next time..

Paddled around and did some backstroke in the wonderfully cool lap pool they have right near the beach, race site. Showered off in the most convenient shower they have next to it, too.

And PIGLETBURGERPIGLETBURGERPIGLETBURGERPIGLETBURGER! OMG look at the wonderful treat that's included with the race! And the yummy boxed lunch, too. ;)


Rian, a wonderful member of the exploding emerging Indonesian endurance community (he swam the 5K, first time at that distance!), came up and introduced himself though we'd known each other through FB. It's always super to connect with and make new friends at races.


A really classy move was the race organizers giving me a special award (SEE! It's official, I'm SPECIAL ;) ), basically for continuing to breathe and attend this race. ;) Anyway, I'm the only person who's taken part in this race every year and continued to actively support it since its inception, five times now.


It's a beautiful etched-glass plaque in a very nice box.


All the race structure and people also really hung in there for the last-place 10K finisher to come in (which, shockingly, was not me, and super kudos 'cause he was out there for a while!). Race announcer really whooped it up and everyone gathered to cheer him in. Trooper!



Given that I wasn't feeling great going into this race, health/energy and shoulder, I think the overall pacing and execution was wise, and my sighting and lines were really good despite the lack of course marking and currenty choppy swelly water. Under good conditions though I can and should push a good bit more from the start. I had plenty left in the tank upon finishing


The race organization itself is great, but the course layout and marking sucked, and that IS the race (despite plenty of detailed feedback from swimmers last year about how to put a solid course together that's much better for swimmers, spectators, staff, and safety). That all was even more important this year as they were understaffed. That said, the organizers, volunteers, lifeguards, folks on the boat (photographers, spotters, feeders) and medics worked really hard and put on the best race they could, which I'd call adequate.

I was pretty pissed that Kingsley had had a paddler last year and we requested one for this year (reiterated the day before and were assured it'd be done, look, we would have been happy to arrange our own paddler) and he wound up NOT having one. We're trustees of this charity race foundation which is FOR disabled athletes, Kingsley is blind, and even the sighted swimmers were lost at sea with the poor markings and tough conditions ... all known factors from previous years which could very easily have been mitigated. And Kingsley is actually a contender to win this race (2nd last year) so this isn't a minor have-fun-participate point--it's a real race-making and safety issue as well.

Overall, this is still a wonderful race with a fantastic atmosphere, for a great cause and put on by great people who work hard. But they really need to step up their game, especially since this is an international race that's attracted world-class athletes every year. The race organizers' own abilities and goodness, and the commitment of the racers, really deserve better.