IMWA - Pt 2

The swim was a real bun fight at first. But it was a bit calmer than the Half. I got clobbered around a bit and copped a good whack to the side of the head. But nothing too bad. the 1st 400m I hated. I concentrated on keeping my breathing deep and regular and did not panic as a mass of bodies all converged into a narrow column next to the jetty. The crush didn't last too long and I then I started getting some space and a little open water. I think I zig zagged a bit on the way out as I tried to find some feet to follow. By the time we all got to the end of the jetty I had a good rhythm going and felt great. I glanced at one of my two watches and it said 28min! I was pretty happy to see that. But I did have to remind my self that this was not the half way point. It was hard to tell how fast I was going, but I was certainly swimming within my threshold pace. I started giving it a bit of a nudge and to generate a tad more pace on the way back. The competitor traffic was still solid and I sensed that others were thinking the same thing as me.

The next km went pretty quick and soon we were almost at the marker buoy that indicated a left had turn towards the swim exit. We went over a shallow bit that made me think we were closer to the shore than we actually were. It was a false surprise, as it was still ages to go and the water got deeper again. I could feel a little bit of chaff under my arm, particularly my left arm. This proved to be an annoyance for the whole race onwards. My tri suit was rubbing on my 'lats' (I think thats the muscle group) I swam over a small marker buoy rope and got a bit entangled at some point. In the effort to get free I got a bit of cramp in my left calf. It was quite painful and I had to try and pull my toes back to make it go away. I lost a few seconds there.

As I got towards the end I used my legs more to try and get some blood flow to them. Other swimmers seemed to be accelerating also! I swam until my hand touched the bottom and then jumped up. (Most seem to stand to early in my opinion). Then a few big strides and I was on the beach I couldn't really see anyone or hear anything as I focused on pulling ,my wettie down to my waist and getting swim cap and goggle off. Dad was there somewhere but I had no idea. My watch said 1:03 hrs - that was good - 3 min better than last time. My actual swim time was 1:02. Which I was pretty happy with. Then as I went under the shower and across the road, I saw Paulie and PeeJay there cheering me on. A few high fives and on I went into the transition tent. It was great to see a few familiar faces. I ran with my bike bag and found an empty seat. A quick change and some sunscreen from one of the very helpful volunteers and I was off to find my bike. It was easy - same place as last time really. 2nd rack up towards the end on the left. I felt like I had done this plenty of times before...

I grabbed the P2 and headed out to the mount point and was off on the longest part of the day.