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| Jessica and I, waiting on the beach for the start |
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| There we go! |
There were a few nudges against other swimmers, but the field spread out within a few minutes. This spreading was made wider by the fact that there were no site buoys throughout the swim– we just charged straight (well, as straight as we could navigate on our own) to the opposite side of the lake. While there were no site buoys, I could see the orange finish chute across the lake. I tried to keep my eyes on this about every 10 strokes. There’s no telling if it worked, or if perhaps I swam an extra half mile. Things got a bit confusing about 30 minutes in, when I could clearly see packs and lines of swimmers a good 50 yards to my right and left. I guess that most swimmers took to the outsides of the lake, while I seemed to be straight in the middle. Was there some secret that I wasn’t let in on? There were a few odd swimmers scattered throughout the middle, but most were off to the sides, and I was alone for about 90% of the race with at least a 25-yard radius of clear water around me. Oh well, I just kept swimming.
After about 50 minutes of swimming (I wore my pink Soleus watch…good decision! It helped me keep tabs on how long I’d be going, and to estimate how much longer I’d have to go, approximately), and still feeling great at this point (thanks, Honey Stinger gel), I turned my head to the right to breathe and saw my hubs and his friend Jon in their canoe. Apparently, the pink watch was about the only thing that distinguished me from the other 400 swimmers in black suits and green caps. The guys were fist-pumping and yelling encouragements at me. It made me smile (and spit some water at them). After that, I decided to gun it in to the finish, assuming it was pretty close. I kept turning up my tempo and kick, but the finish was not coming fast enough. Finally, at a total time of 1-hour and 8-minutes, I reached the beach. With wobbly legs, I stood up and jogged across the finish line. Brice and John had just arrived on the shore, so they cheered Jess and I into the finish.
Post-race foods and drinks were superb! Fruit, bagels, nutella, pb, hot cocoa, lemonade…and complementary lunch was served to finishers: bbq chicken sandwhiches, salad, and beer on tap!
I would definitely do this swim again. Such a fun experience. The environment after the race was just as relaxing and friendly (and even more fun!) as it was before the race start. People hung out with their families and friends on the beach, in the warm sun, snacked, went Stand-Up-Paddling, kayaking, and cheered on finishers until the 2-hour and 30-minute cut-off time.
After the race, and nap time, Jess, Jon, Brice, Kenai (Jon and Jess’s amazingly entertaining and sweet Husky), and I played in the river (walking distance of their house), then went for ice cream. The ice cream shop happened to also be a cupcake shop. So, Brice and I shared a “cupcake split” which consisted of a chocolate cupcake, caramel pecan and strawberry ice creams, chocolate sauce, house made whipped cream, and crushed candy-cookie toppings. So good!
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| Just Yum |
It was a beautiful day for a swim in the lake, and a beautiful weekend with friends. Plus, I got to take home a pretty “Donner Lake, 2014” embroidered towel for an age group win! Fancy Swag.