Weekend Musings ~ I CAN Still Race

What a race!
The Flowers Sea Swim, a very well done event, this year is the 27th year it has been going!
I trained a long time for this, since January.
All through training, I simply wanted to just be able to swim a full mile without stopping.
And at the start, I realized just how hard that would be.

But, after months of training, I knew I could swim that far, even if I did stop to get the mouthful of water out of my mouth, or massaged a cramp, or slowed to get a better look at the fish.

So the day came, and I wanted to swim it faster than I had in every training session.
I was excitedly nervous. The weather was beautiful, even if a bit hot. The ocean was calm and a few clouds gave us some relief from the sun sometimes.

Me and my numba! Never so proud to wear J16!

Especially after I got my number painted on me! I felt so good, actually, with that number on.
It was official now.
Now, I just had to stash my stuff - they had a shuttle to take our stuff to the finish line.
And warm up.

A few swimmers warming up.

At this point, just a few of the swimmers were warming up, and keeping cool, in the water.
Thankfully, the Cancer Society had a tent that offered FREE sprays of reef safe sunscreen. They really sprayed it on, and it made all the difference for me. I tend to burn quickly and with already damaged skin from years of abuse, so this was great!

Great offering of tents at the starting line, with sunscreen water, or just shade.

Plus, a tent for water or juice, even cokes if you wanted. But me starting to get a bit nervous, I was very glad for some cold water.
I wasn't nervous in the way that I wondered if I could do it. I was anxious to start. I was nervous about doing well. I was alone there, hubby dropped me off (wasn't up for the crowds and heat), and I didn't see anyone I knew. I never did this before, so wasn't sure how it would all play out. How do you get 900 people to start a race together??

Pre-race Jitters

So I turned in my stuff to shuttle, and then went in the water to warm up my muscles, cool down my skin.

Headcount, pic from 2018 Sea Swim

Finally, the swimmers briefing, then the headcount, then we entered the water. I was near the beginning of those lines so I had to tread water and wait for the rest of the huge group of swimmers to enter the water. All nearly 900 of us.

The chaotic start, from 2018 Sea Swim

What a chaotic start!
The horn blasted to start, and I had to anxiously wait until everyone ahead of me moved before I could even start. I could NOT move until they did, people everywhere. Lots of bumping, swatting, kicking, waves, splashes. Ugh.
It took a bit for the crowd of swimmers to disperse, but finally I had some room to really stretch out and swim. And swim I did!
I surprised myself as the urge to compete appeared out of nowhere. I was determined to pass as many people as I could, I pushed myself the entire time, stopping only if I was choking (inhaled a lungful of salt water) or about to swim in to someone.

And when the finish line appeared, a feeling I hadn't felt in 30 years kicked in.
BEAT EVERYONE YOU CAN!

The best sight to see in this type of race.
Volunteers waiting to give you number and medal.

The first race like this I have ever done ~ I learned so much:

• I learned that NO ONE swims straight but me. (I tell myself these little lies to make myself feel better, I am sure I veer off to the right regularly) 
• Because of swimmers that do not swim straight, but right in to you, I learned swallowing one mouthful of sea water is unpleasant, and takes some time to recover from.
• I learned to GIVE LOTS OF SPACE to swimmers who were doing the breast stroke. Yes, I learned that after a swift kick to my, um, chest. OUCH!
• I learned that the competition bug appears whenever you race, but in this swimming race I felt like I did 30 plus years ago when I was on the swim team. What a feeling!
• I learned I have NO real concept of how far I swim when in open water in an area I have never been swimming. I really did not know how far I went, or how far I had to go until I reached the finish line.
• I learned it is totally awesome to see a STINGRAY while you are swimming a race! And that this is a perfect reason to slow down a bit to get a good look, even if it does mean someone will then swim in to you. 

• I learned what it is like to have a drone filming the swim stalk you. As my sister said it must have liked filming my butt, it seemed to hang around me for a long time. But, as said above, maybe it wasn't that long because I had no real concept of how far I swam with it stalking me.
• I learned that the sight of the finish line brings out the desire to swim as crazy fast as you possibly can, and that you suddenly MUST overtake as many other swimmers as you can so you can finish strong, i.e BEAT THEM.

The finish line, these swimmers are the last ones, but they did it!

• I learned how LONG it actually takes to GET TO the finish line once you see it when swimming.
• I learned to enjoy the awesome feeling of coming in 327th out of almost 900 swimmers, when you thought you would be more like 500th.
• I learned how SO good a pepperoni pizza is after a race, after not having had it for MONTHS.

My after race reward. I went back for a 2nd slice of pizza.

Yes, I am doing this next year. It is a great event, and perfect excuse, i.e. motivation, to train and keep in shape. To avoid pizza for months, to then enjoy it immensely after the race, all worth it.

From the little speech Kelsey Grammer gave (he is in the white shirt on stage next to the podium) he will be back for his 3rd time next year. (When I showed my kids this pic, they said, 'Who is Fraiser?' lol)
If I kept up with the Olympics, I would have recognized some of them who came this year too, but sadly I am not familiar with the group. Though I did seem them all. They were having a great time. See the full list here.

Star-studded stage. Well Fraiser studded stage.
(Sorry the pic is so bad, I was tired and full by this time, so I was not very concerned about pics.)

It was a great day, event, race. I know I am hooked now. The feeling of competition, of doing well, of having months of hard work and training pay off. I WILL be doing this again next year. Hoping to have hubby walk it too. Or at least have someone go with me. Because that was the only downside, I was there alone, plus I didn't win a raffle prize, so maybe next year. But, it was still a great event. And I should mention the swag bag was pretty decent!

 A good swag bag includes:
bag, water bottle, medal, luggage tag, little toiletry bag, deck of cards, mini towel
(tee shirt not pictured)

All for a good cause too! All registration proceeds this year will be donated to the Special Olympics Cayman Islands. Please check out all my links I put in here, there are some great sites to see and great causes to support.

The final results will be up in a few days, I can't wait to see my time.
Also, I would like to see if that drone was filming my butt.

#FSS2019
flowersseaswim.com