Steelman Open Water Swim - Swim

I swear he started us before my whole wave was in the water but thankfully it didn't affect me; I was at least in the water although not positioned where I wanted to be. Anyway, we're off!

There was more jostling for position than I recall in 2015 with a fair amount of contact. Finally people started to spread out some but it was still more crowded than I remember. While on land looking at the buoys, I thought they looked crooked. In the water, I totally concur! Geez, it seemed I was swimming a zig zag the whole time and needing to correct and recorrect my trajectory often, Apparently the end result wasn't quite as bad as it felt - my coach remarked I did a good job of swimming straight.

Nothing too remarkable on the first leg of loop 1 other than the jostling. Leg 2 yielded getting caught and swamped by the males swimming the 1.5 distance. Hit, pushed under, knocked into. Also got kicked in the wrist (thankfully not my head or face) so hard the guy actually stopped to apologize. I think he was breaststoking while he was sighting and that's when he nailed me. Oh well, it gave me something to think about for the rest of the leg.

Leg 3, loop 1: watch out for the weeds! 2 years ago they were troublesome and thick, grabbing arms and legs so I was hoping to stay inside the line far enough to avoid them this year. Either they weren't as thick or I managed to succeed at avoiding the majority of them because while I did encounter some it wasn't nearly as bad as before.

Leg 1, lap 2: OK, here we go again! Hang in there. Maybe 1/3 of the way after rounding the buoy my feet were threatening to cramp. I immediately tried to stop kicking to let my muscles relax before the cramps set in full bore. It worked, for now. Maybe halfway to the turn buoy a cramp began in my foot and started moving up my calf. Argh, no! 2 years ago I had stop-you-in-your-tracks calf cramps which I was desperately trying to avoid. It didn't get that bad but it was trying. Finally it worked its way out as I altered my kick.

Leg 2, lap 2: mainly being mindful of how I was kicking because my feet and calves kept threatening to cramp. Also I was constantly focusing on keeping a steady turnover and decent pull. Nearing the turn buoy I passed a 5K male, yay!

Leg 3, lap 2, the homestretch! OK, bring it home! I really tried to pick up the pace to have a strong finish. Stay out of the weeds. Pull. Kick carefully. Rotate. Pull. Stay on an accurate line. Pull. Catch that other green cap (5K male). Got 'em! Keep going, get to the finish! Finally I got to the final buoy, frantically trying to remember if they said anything about going around it before heading to the ramp. I didn't see the people in front of me go around it so I suppose we don't.

Got to the ramp and stood when the water was about waist deep. Standing was not an easy task! There was a guy in there to help people, I think I may have taken his hand until I got to the green outdoor carpeting. My legs were not working so well - it felt like they couldn't straighten up so I hobbled pathetically and carefully up the ramp to the timing mats, weaving a bit like I'd had too much to drink. My friends were there congratulating me but I didn't feel too victorious after seeing my time, just disappointed. I had really hoped to go under 2 hours, even if just by seconds.


Not let myself get as rattled about the contact and the seemingly crooked buoys. I let myself get a little frustrated at both, especially the buoys, more than I should've. Continue working on improving my stroke and my pull to get faster and more efficient.

Wandered around a bit checking in with my friends to learn how their races went. All finished and all enjoyed it except for LT who surprisingly didn't place in her AG. She's typically in the top 5 women finishers overall and wins or gets 2nd AG but not this year, shocker! This made her very disappointed.

H and I were finally able to pick up L's shirt and swag (a great insulated tumbler).

I eventually got a couple pieces of watermelon slices and 1/8 of a bagel because I wanted Concord grape jelly. :) We got changed and headed to the REAL main event, Torre, an excellent Mexican restaurant we love. House made guacamole and chips, a Bloody Maria (spicy!) and my favorite entree helped lift my spirits some.


Not sure, although my sore shoulder would indicate some stroke flaws that need to be adjusted and worked on. Also, maybe the fact that I only recently learned how strong one should be pulling so I've been working on improving/correcting that. Maybe some of the mental 'static', too, with the buoys and contact. I should learn to block that out better but dang it, I don't like it, lol!


The RD works very hard to make this an organized, safe, well-run race and he succeeds.