Oops, I did it again...

Last weekend ended with me fizzled out and run down. I wasn't sure why until on Sunday night, when I started coming down with a nasty virus. I felt terrible and didn't swim for 3 days. On Thursday, I started to perk up, so I decided to ease back into the pool. I was coughing up hail-sized phlem, but a funny thing happened - my arms felt great! Three days of laying around sick left my muscles feeling tapered. I glided through the water without the usual fatigue and muscle knots that accompany weeks of heavy yardage. I was excited about racing the Low Country Splash on Saturday where I hoped to take advantage of my unplanned taper!

The race was 2.4 mi down the Cooper River, in the Charleston Harbor. We would start at Hobcaw Yacht Club, swim along the Mount Pleasant shoreline, continue under the New Cooper River Bridge to pass the USS Yorktown Aircraft Carrier, finally finishing at the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Center. The race is always fun because there are a lot of competitors (over 450) and there is a very strong current assist. What's even better is that they have kegs of beer for us at the finish!

It was a mass start, and with so many people I knew that I needed to start out fast so that I could break away from the crowd quickly. The gun went off and I broke into a sprint. With the current behind me, I was cruising! My arms felt great and I decided to try to maintain the pace for the whole race. Woohoo! Before I knew it, there weren't many feet ahead of me. I kept swimming farther and farther down the Cooper River, building up speed.

The New Cooper River Bridge was getting larger. I sighted to the right of the midpoint of the bridge, right between the 3rd and 4th piling, like thought I remembered from the prerace meeting.

I kept swimming and soon there was no one in front of me. In fact, there was no one behind or next to me either. Where was everyone? I started getting nervous. There were some very fast age group swimmers there and it made no sense for me to be so far ahead of the pack. Boats were going by and the wake hit me - hard. The boats felt close. What was going on?

It was then that one of the safety officials kayaked up to me. I was swimming into the shipping lane - WAY off course. I needed to swim to the left of the midpoint of the bridge, between the 1st and 2nd pilings, not the 3rd and 4th. I wasn't swimming alone because I was ahead of the pack - I was alone because I was to the RIGHT of the pack. I looked over to the race course and felt like crying. I was swimming so hard, sprinting the entire way, but it was for nothing. I was going the wrong way!

I felt like giving up, slowing down, and resigning myself to finish somewhere in the middle of the pack. How could I possibly do well now? Still, I swam back to the course, trying to maintain my pace. I joined the nearest pack and found that they were holding a quick pace. I guess I wasn't that far behind after all! I dug deep, trying to catch up to the frontrunners as much as I could.

Before I knew it, I was passing the aircraft carrier and rounding the finish. I ended up finishing 7th out of the women and 1st in my age group. I was happy with my swim pace and how I placed, but I was disappointed with how lost I got, yet again. When was I going to learn? Now I'm just thankful that I will have a guide boat for both the Swim Around Key West and more importantly for the English Channel.

Another issue had me and the rest of DAMA grumbling. Since this spring has been unusually cold and the race day water temperature was in the low 70s, the race director decided at the last minute to allow the use of wetsuits. Wetsuits are illegal in all races sanctioned by all major swimming bodies - USA Swimming, US Masters swimming, and FINA - because they provide a tremendous buoyancy advantage and can make swimmers up to 15% faster. However, triathletes like buying expensive workout gadgets so they have different rules. Wetsuits are allowed in triathlons under a certain temperature. The Low Country Splash was not sanctioned by any swimming body, so race officials could do whatever they wanted regarding wetsuits. The water was 72 degrees - hardly a cause for hypothermia concern - but they decided to allow wetsuits anyway, citing safetly concerns.

Most open water swimmers, like myself, are very pleased that more triathletes and beginner swimmers are participating in our sport. However, we are wary of "watering down" the rules, so to speak. Environmental elements, temperature, and navigation are all challenges that separate open water swimming from pool swimming. When wetsuits are legalized, you practically have to wear one to stay competitive. However, that's not a purchase that most of us want to make. If race directors want to legalize wetsuits to accomodate more swimmers, they should do so, but score these swimmers in a separate awards category. That way, those who don't want to shell out hundreds of dollars on a wetsuit and those who want to adhere to stricter, "purer" swimming standards would not be penalized.

Our Charleston trip was short but very fun. Here are some pictures:

Me with Heidi Williams, another age group winner, at the Battery.

A trip to the dungeon, which withstood both the Revolutionary War and the Civ - er- the War of Northern Aggression.

Week 20:
Mon: rest - sick
Tues: walk 5 mi
Wed: rest - sick
Thurs: swim 5100 yds
Fri: swim 2000
Sat: swim about 4000
Sun: swim 4000
Total: swim 15,200; walk 5 mi