Tempe Town Lake 4000 Meter Open Water Swim

This swim was not what I would call a lot of fun. The first ironman type swim I did last year was exhilarating because I was scared to death and I conquered my fears and proved to myself that I could do it. The second ironman swim I did last year was actually in the race and was long and exhausting, topped out with a 15 m.p.h. headwind just when I was finishing and really tired. The third swim I did this year in October was a lot of work, but there was scenery and I had energy throughout the entire swim. This swim was in murky green 66 degree water and the only thing you really had to look at were bridges and cement walls. The swim was four 1000 meters laps, so you had the same ugly stuff to look at at least four times.

The first lap was crowded. Actually the first, second and third lap were crowded because the lap was a rectangle that was near the wall. I employed my strategy of not wasting energy trying to avoid people, but just letting them run into me. Still, people running into me made me cranky after a while. I would get into a rhythm and then someone would disrupt it by crashing into me. Of course by the second lap all the faster swimmers, which were everyone, was lapping me, so I would get passed more than once by the same person.

My energy level for the first two laps was good. I had done a fair amount of 2000 meter open water swims, so it was what I was used to. I hit a warm patch of water at the turnaround and it really felt good. Both laps took 30 minutes.

By the third lap, however, my energy was draining out of my body. I felt like I was in the fourth mile of a 10k where the race had been going on long enough that you are tired, but you still have what seems a long way to finish. I was getting cold and the six hour bike ride I did the day before had used up my energy. I hit the turnaround. Too bad-my patch of warm water was gone. My arms didn't seem to have a lot of strength, so I just tried to keep them relaxed. At least most of the people had finished so it was less crowded. I was concerned about slowing down, but I did the lap in about the same time as the first two. It just felt a lot worse. I thought that I really hated swimming this long. It wasn't a good attitude, but I really didn't want to be doing this anymore. I HATE swimming.

By the fourth lap I was really really tired. It's a little disconcerting to be that tired in a body of water. I knew I could finish, but my alertness was waning. I seemed to be out there alone and the water was smooth. Coming around the turnaround, there was one person ahead of me. Maybe I could draft off of this person. No, she was going too slow even for my infinitesimal speed. I actually passed one person.

Finally I got near the end. I couldn't figure out where the hell to go. My brain was shutting down. I swam to the guys waving and I had a hard time trying to make my legs work. Somewhere before the swim exit, I was rewarded algae mustache. Luckily, no fiends with cameras were lurking nearby to capture this special moment.

I was disoriented for a few moments when I got out. A touch of hypothermia-I had a hard time getting my body to listen to my brain. I tried to walk and staggered. I tried to talk and mumbled. Fun stuff. Final time was 2:02, which was about the same time that I did in the warmer, less tiring Lake Pleasant swim.

The swim served it's purpose as a training swim for Ironman Arizona. I should be happy that I swam the same time that I did in the previous month, even being tired. Still, it's frustrating when everyone else swims faster. I would love to swim the distance in even an hour and a half. Two hours is just too long to be in the water period. It's part of racing an Ironman, but it still sucks.

I always have the fantasy that onetime I will have a dream swim where I will exceed all my expectations. Most of the time they end in disappointment. I am past the stage where I just swim to get through the swim, but I never seem to swim fast no matter how hard I try. I long to be like the other swimmers that fly by me and who probably never had a swim lasting two hours. Slow swimmers know about endurance and going long. We just don't get much credit for it.