The last couple of weeks leading up to the swim were disrupting, erratic and surreal at the same time. Earthquake in NYC and Hurricane Irene closing-in...
I was not able to swim for 2 whole weeks due to my back strain and the week leading up to the swim was spent in Miami for a work assignment.
I was thinking that I could at least practice a bit every day at the hotel pool or beach however swimming was out of the question due to the looming Hurricane "Irene" off the coast producing gusty winds and showers. I was due to fly back on Thursday night and was frantically attempting to get an earlier flight on Wednesday to avoid being stranded there. Except that I was not the only one with that bright idea and it was simply impossible to catch an earlier flight, so I had to wait it out.
On Tuesday the 23rd an earthquake was felt in the northeast and in NYC, my (drop-dead gorgeous) wife said that her desk was shaking for 2 minutes and some buildings in the city had been evacuated. My first thought was that I had never experienced an earthquake, but I may have to sit through a major hurricane.
On Wednesday, the forecast looked better and it seemed that Irene was heading straight to the Carolinas. I was happy that I could fly back home with no issue, no flight delays. All flights to New York City were delayed for hours, but you gotta love the smaller Westchester airport, where it was on-time and nonstop to White Plains :)
FRIDAY EVENING
I packed up my usual gear, including 2 wetsuits, and we drove up to Lake George where Grandma lives as we were staying with her that night - naturally. The 3 hour drive up the Taconic Parkway was filled with doomsday stories from this past week, the earthquake and Hurricane Irene with the likely scenario that it would hit NYC by Sunday! (as forecasted)
Once we arrived, we picked up pizza at Mandy's (:)) and went straight to bed. I was a bit anxious as I did not have time to practice at all in over 10 days... I signed up for the 2.5K and the 5K but was not sure that I would be able to make both events as these are back to back swims, with only 1 hour of rest in between the 2 races! The combined distance would be 7.5K and it would be my longest distance swim in a single day! My plan was to use the speedsuit for the first race then the wetsuit for the second race to take advantage of the extra buoyancy it provides.
6AM RACE DAY, THE 27TH
Alarm rang, I quickly threw on my shorts and t-shirt, Grandma's coffee was already brewing since 5AM (the best coffee ever as always!). We jumped in the car and got on the road. It took about 40 minutes to travel from Lake George (the town) to Hague where the races were scheduled to take place. The drive was absolutely gorgeous as we took the coastal route along the lakeshore. It is a longer ride but well worth it.
6:45AM HAGUE
We were greeted by a beautiful landscape, it was overcast and the lake was calm and serene with cliffs and mountains filling the horizon as far as the eye could see. It was very reminiscent of Lake Leman in Switzerland albeit with smaller mountains in the horizon :)
Time to check in! I will enjoy the scenery later.
The 10K race that was scheduled to take place on Sunday was moved up the Saturday due to Hurricane Irene! Weather conditions were scheduled to worsen starting Saturday evening. We then decided that we would drive back down to Westchester in the afternoon to be home before the Hurricane.
I escaped Florida but it seemed that Irene was about to get me after all! :)
7:40 AM PRE-RACE BRIEFING
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| Race Maps |
I ran into Terry, the TI headcoach (again :) I knew he would be there along with other TI colleagues), we had a nice chat regarding open water sighting and strategy for this swim but I digress...The race director started outlining the course, it would be counter-clockwise. We need to keep buoys to our left. Turn left at yellow buoys and use the orange buoys for sighting. 1 loop is 2.5K so the second race consists of 2 loops.
We're all looking at the lake trying to figure out where the buoys were, I knew that sighting would be an issue for me especially since I breath unilaterally to my right side.
We now had only 10 minutes to get ready for the race, I started gearing up by putting on my speedsuit, getting my goggles out of the bag, spare goggles ready and my tempo trainer that I would set before getting in the water.
Lo and behold! the tempo trainer starts beeping then stops after a few seconds, it is dead! I just had to swim without it...
7:55 AM RACE START
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I am wearing my speedsuit for the 2.5K race, walking towards the water, the race starts by the floater about 30 meters from the shore.
The water is about waist deep over there.
Anticipation levels are very high at this point and we are all waiting for the whistle to start the race. A few short chats with fellow swimmers have confirmed that the buoys are very difficult to see from a distance.
8:00 AND....GO!
I just started following the swimmers in front of me, I passed a few swimmers fairly quickly and the first thing that I noticed was how clear the water was. You can see maybe 5 to 6 feet deep and this makes it easier to follow the swimmer in front of you. What a difference between this and the opaque water of the Long Island Sound!
...Just like a flock of birds in the distance!
The pack in the distance, this is when we start spreading. I am not sure how fast my pace was at this point but I believe I was swimming at around SR 1.3.
I had a mouthful of water every once in a while due to wake produced by nearby speedboats. To my surprise the water was fresh and drinkable :) probably safer than tap water!
At the first left turn I took note of a home in the distance along the shore and used it as a target to help me navigate. I then just cycled through my usual focal points grip/arm extension/flick and weight shifts until the finish line...
8:55 AM RACE 1 FINISH LINE
While walking towards the finish line a fellow swimmer was right behind me, I told him that I was going completely off-course a couple of times and he replied : "I know! I was following you!" :)
My time was 55mn, very average considering that I average 3K in 50 minutes at the indoor pool. But nevertheless good. I felt upbeat and ready for the 5K race that would start in less than 45 minutes.
9:50 SECOND RACE STARTS
I had my full wetsuit on for the second race as I was concerned about cramping and preferred to remain cautious. There is no need to risk another injury - I am having too much fun!
It was more of the same during the second race except that my sighting was probably a bit better.
At the end of the first loop you could stop, rest a bit if you wish, get some fresh water off the platform, however if you actually "touch" the platform you are immediately eliminated from the race.
11:50 SECOND RACE FINISH LINE
My time for the 5K race was 1h53mn
EPILOGUE
I was not really prepared for these swims since I never had 2 races on the same day. Furthermore less than an hour rest in between didn't seem to be enough time to recover.
I was a bit disoriented at first because I was not carrying a tempo trainer, as I usually rely on it to maintain my pace. It took me about 10 minutes to finally adjust, all I had to do was repeat the sequence of my usual focal points... I also have to work on improving my sighting skills in open water - I was way way off course a few times and had to be escorted back by the paddlers...These navigation issues occured during the 5K as well. I feel bad for the swimmers who were following me.
Overall this was a great event and I managed to complete the 2.5K in 55mn and the 5K in 1h53mn, not too thrilled about these results but to my big surprise my pace was VERY consistent. My tempo was almost identical between the two races! All this without using the tempo trainer!!!
I am really looking forward to future open water swims, too bad the season is almost over...
What a week! No tempo trainer, but consistent pace throughout both races, 7.5K total swim in 1 day, NYC Earthquake and Hurricane Irene...and another mission accomplished!
For the 2011 Results, visit http://www.lakegeorgeswim.com/results/
