Three-and-a-half months after my cathartic failure at Wildflower, I put the pungent odor of weakness. lack of convinction and fear behind me by completing the Escape from the Rock Triathlon. The race legs (1.5 mile swim, 2.5 mile run, 13 mile bike, 7.5 mile run) don't seem too daunting but it was the swim where I proved myself to myself.
The concept of swimming from Alcatraz to the San Francisco shore is crazy to me for several reasons. First. I am not the stongest swimmer in the world. Second, I have always had a fear of the Ocean as a large, scary unknown. Third, my body gets cold really quickly. Fourth, there could have been reruns of Laguna Beach Season Two I was missing during the swim.
My friend Will talked me/peer pressured me into signing up for this race about four months ago and if he had not been doing the race, I am not sure if I would have shown up despite my $190 investment. Our conversation on the walk to and boat ride out to Alcatraz helped me a lot, making the swim seem like just another day.
Once I jumped off the ferry into the water to start the swim, I felt like 75% of the battle had been fought. I did have a few scary moments in the water (e.g. fogged up goggles, perception that I was making no progress, swallowing lots of sea water after getting kneed in the head by another swimmer) but once I exited the water, I felt unbelievable.
I had my usual quad cramps during the second run but, all in all, it was an awesome experience.
Now for the stupid part. I got way to hyped up watching Lance win the tour (subject for my next blog entry) and I signed up for the 2006 Lake Placid Ironman on July 25. That is just nuts.
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