Race morning dawned and I was up at 4:30.  For all the nervousness I did not experience in the days leading up to Ironman Florida, I woke up with a SERIOUS case of nerves.

I made my tea and got down some breakfast of Cream of Rice with almond butter and honey (Chrissie W told me this is what she eats so I’ve been trying it…and it works for me too!)  It was all I could do to swallow, I was that nervous!

I got my water bottles, and swim gear ready, put on my TriBella race kit and was out the door at 5:15 to meet Bine in the lobby.   We walked over to transition and first stopped at Betty so I could add the finishing touches to her and then it was over to Bine’s bike.  All tires were inflated and water bottles holstered!

We made our way over to the Morning Clothes Bag drop-off and wormed our ways into our wetsuits.  By this time my nerves where off the chart!  I seriously felt like I was going to throw up.  I’d been feeling like this for an hour already and by the time my wetsuit was on, I didn’t know how I was NOT going to barf!  I stuck to my nutrition plan and had a JUST PLAIN GU even though I wasn’t sure  how it would go down.  And this totally surprised the heck out of me, but the minute I finished the GU my tummy and nerves just melted away!  For real!  It was as if my body was comforted by having the Just Plain GU making its way down my system.  After all the miles and hours I’ve spent eating Just Plain GU my body responded with a sigh and an “Ahhhhhhh”.  The nerves were gone and I WAS READY TO RACE!

From here Bine and I grabbed each others hands and held tight as we made our way down to the beach.  I hadn’t seen the water yet and I knew it was windy as all get out, so I was relieved when I saw the water was calm.  Phew!

On the beach we met up with Kay, Carla  and my Mom and friend Kelli1.  I was so glad to see my Mom before the race started!

Bine, Carla, Kay and Me- Anyone up for a little swim?

 

My biggest supporter- MOM!!!

The Pros started and then they announced it was time for us Age Groupers to enter the coral. Athletes started entering the water to warm up, while Bine and I found our spot in the middle front of the group.

Before the Canon

10 minutes went by like it was nothing. The countdown started  and then the cannon went off!  Everyone started running into the water and slowly began swimming.  To say it was a mobfest is an understatement.  2700 athletes starting in the same area is nothing short of a moshpit.

As Athletes enter the water from the beach start

And we're off!

Notice the little white empty box in the crowd of ants!

These shots were taken from our condo

Bine and I entered the water together and as we began to swim I  hoped she was able to stay on my feet.  I felt hands tapping my feet for about 50 meters and then they were gone.   I found out after the race that Bine had kicked some man in the face, then he grabbed her foot and pulled her underwater!  REALLY!  What an a-hole!  She ended up swallowing water and getting sick on the second lap.

That is just one example of how the swim was.  It was brutal!  The men where just so aggressive.  It was an all out battle not to get beat up and drown!  I kept trying to find someone who’s feet I could get on so that they could just plow through the masses.  Whenever I did this I was able to stay away from getting hit as much.  And mind you, I am absolutely fine with someone swimming on my feet!  It’s the intentional hitting you and kicking you as hard as possible that I didn’t tolerate so well.  But I must say that it increased my GRRRRR and made me swim hard!

The Brutal Swim

 

Finally I finished the first lap, got up on shore, took a swig of GU and water, and headed back in for my next 1.2 mile swim.

This lap was a bit less aggressive as people began to spread out.  It still was a full on, swim for you life kinda thing though.  On this lap I really ended up noticing the jelly fish.  Luckily they seemed to be about 2 feet below me and I never swam right into any (Other athletes weren’t as lucky!).

By the time I rounded the second buoy and was headed back to shore the crowd was significantly less.  One of the mistakes I made on this last bit was I didn’t swim hard enough to keep me in line with the buoys.  The current is pushing you to the right and I ended up being a good 100 feet outside the buoy line.  I am sure I added at least 5 minutes to the swim because I had to swim back left to get to the swim exit.  Lesson learned on that one!

With the SWIM EXIT arch in sight I was glad to be getting out of the water!  I LOVE to swim but this time it was just about surviving.  And not surviving the water, but the other athletes!  Brutal!  But I made it!  And as I came out of the water I heard my name, looked right and there was my Mom in her green baseball cap (she wore it intentionally so I could spot her!) and Kelli.  I was relieved and happy AND ready for the BIKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm the pink cap (right in the middle) of the green caps

 

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