Water Water Everywhere

I think I may have gotten a little delirious after the event high from last weekend's awesome Silicon Valley Open Water Swim. I made an impulsive decision to register for a Lake Tahoe Swim. It was this past Saturday. I convinced my friend (I think we may be event registration enablers) to sign up as well. We went back and forth. Do we drive up Friday, do the event Saturday and come back? Do we drive up Saturday, and drive back Sunday? We wanted to bike that weekend as well, but didn't want to deal with leaving our bikes out during the swim. The logistics were hurting our brains. So we decided that I would drive to Sacramento (where she lives) after work on Friday. We would wake up super duper early Saturday, do the swim and then drive back after.

Yes, we decided to go to Lake Tahoe and back in one day.

Um, yes. We are crazy.

We woke up at 3:30(!). We actually got to Lake Tahoe at 6. Not too bad. However, the event website wasn't the most user friendly and we weren't sure exactly where it was. Her GPS took us on a wild goose chase through a campground, but miraculously we found Day parking and a trail to the beach. Yay! Except when we got to the beach, it wasn't super obvious there was an event. We finally found registration. I gave the woman my USAT card and she asked me, "Wetsuit or non-wetsuit?" My friend and I exchanged enabling glances. See, I had brought my wetsuit but I didn't want to wear it. But everyone was telling me that the water was cold at Tahoe.

But, I saw the look in my friend's eyes and I knew my answer.

I sighed, "No wetsuit."

Um, yes. We are crazy.

She gave us markers to write our race numbers on our limbs. DIY body marking--gotta love a grass roots event.

We got to the shore and gingerly stepped into the water. I may have sworn a little. It was cold! Am I a total idiot for doing this? We swam around a little bit and then got out because it was still 40 minutes before the event started. We headed to the beach for the pre-race talk. The race director talked about the courses. They had 3 options: 1/2 mile, 1 mile, and 2 mile. We signed up for the two mile. Unlike last week's event--which was two one mile loops---this was an out and back event. Here is basically how the race director described the course:

"Ok, for the half mile swim you want to swim around that buoy, at the second buoy make a right and head to the finish."

Ok, the second buoy looked close. Not too bad.

"For the one miler you want to go past the first two buoys and turn around at the third buoy."

I squinted my eyes and finally was able to see the last buoy. Um, that looks far.

"Ok, for the 2 mile swim you want to go past that last buoy and turn around at the buoy further out."

Um, what buoy?

As if reading my mind, he said "You can't see it from here."

Gulp.

Um, yes. We are crazy.

The swim started. Brrrrrr! It was a long swim. It felt long because it took a long time until the turnaround buoy was visible. I kept expecting myself to get warm, but it remained consistently cold. Then I would hit warm parts and would freak out a little. I remembered one of my friends telling me that when you die from hypothermia you actually feel warm all over. (note: I have not researched this. Just repeating what someone told me).

So then I started thinking "OMG! DO I HAVE HYPOTHERMIA?"

Well, duh, of course I didn't have it. It was just the ridiculous mental freakout that is similar to when I am in the ocean and touch seaweed: "OMG! IS THAT A SHARK?"

There were only 20 of us doing the 2 mile option and I was definitely one of the slowest. So, basically I was swimming in Tahoe by myself. Except the size of the race meant that one of the volunteer kayakers was with me the whole time. THAT was awesome. At the final buoy I stopped and he said, "Just a straight shot to the finish."

"Am I last?" I asked him.

"No."

"It's fine if I am. Someone has to be last. I have no ego issues being THAT person..." Ok Jill, just shut up and swim.

And I did. AND I MADE IT AND DIDN'T GET HYPOTHERMIA. AND I WASN'T LAST. (I was second to last).

My friend was there cheering me on. She got 1st and I got 2nd in our age group. And yes, it was only the two of us. But I happily took my pint glass that read "BIG BLUE ADVENTURES 2nd."

In summary, an AMAZING swim. . The water was clear, beautiful and tranquil. I was actually worried about the elevation affecting my breathing, but it wasn't a problem at all. In fact, I checked results today and my swim was 3 minutes faster than last week's time. WHAHOO!

OK, so the only issue with all of these events I have done is only ONE was in the ocean. I probably should snap out of my denial and get in there at some point before Big Kahuna, right?

Right.