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Your privacy is a PRIMARY consideration of AskDrSears.com. Your e-mail address is used ONLY by AskDrSears.com for the purpose of announcing news, events and special offers available only AskDrSears.com registered users. MARCH 31st, 2007
My First Half-Ironman – Part 1: The Swarm, er, I mean: The Swim Today I got to put the last 12 weeks of training to the test… I woke up at 3:30 am and ate a couple of waffles (whole grain, organic) then I loaded my bike on the car. Ate two more waffles, then finished packing my bag. Watched some TiVo’d footage of Floyd Landis winning the Tour de France while I downed two more waffles, then it was time to go. With over 2,200 athletes converging on the same town at five in the morning it was funny to see all the cars topped with bikes driving down the freeway, in the dark. Oceanside, California was quite a scene this morning: sponsor’s banners flying everywhere, huge tents set up, bleachers for spectators, and an endless procession of athletes with their bikes and backpacks making their way to the start/finish area. I sleepily joined the parade and soon found my designated transition area. This is where I set up my bike and my bag with my wetsuit, towel, food, biking shoes, helmet, extra food, running shoes, sunglasses, sunscreen, hat, more food, camera, and some spare food. Everything was organized so I could grab things quickly as I changed from swimming to biking to running. The sun started to rise over the harbor, and it was time to get my wetsuit on and head down to the water. Now, this is the part that I had been dreading. People had been warning me about the swim, saying it would be so crowded that I would get bumped and kicked by the other swimmers. Plus, the water was going to be really, really cold. I had not been able to train in anything other than a heated Olympic sized pool – nice and warm with plenty of room. Now, I was about to plunge into the icy pacific with a swarm of 277 other crazed 40-44 year olds. I had seen photos in the magazines of the swimming portion of Ironman, and it really looks like a chaotic free-for-all. I had visions of my goggles getting kicked off, maybe a bloody nose – followed by an all-out panic attack as the sharks started to circle! Not wanting a premature end to my first Ironman via the lifeguard rescue, I decided to suck it up, put my game-face on, and then tried to convince myself that I didn’t look like shark food in my black wetsuit. Even if I did, I hoped that Jaws would decide to take one of the other 277 “seals” in my group. Triathlete friends of mine had given me advice to start near the back of the swim pack to avoid being “run over” by the faster swimmers, but somehow I found myself right up front as the starting gun sounded.So I swam. Fast! I guess all the adrenaline kept me from feeling the frigid water with my feet (I was hoping it was not the later stages of frostbite!). After the first few minutes of all out sprinting, I started to get into a more comfortable rhythm. It was hard to tell how I was doing, because all I could sense were the feet of the guy in front of me, and the hands of the guy behind me – along with the occasional bump from the guy next to me. I desperately wanted to look around and see if I was first, last or somewhere in the middle, but I feared getting run over! So, I told myself, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming” (any Dori fans out there?) Things finally started to spread out, and I started to think about all the “go fast / save energy” techniques that I had learned over the past 3 months. As I started concentrating on long, smooth strokes, and gliding through the water – I noticed that I started to pass some of the guys around me! I started to look up every once-in-a-while to see where I was, and hoping that I was getting closer to the turn-around point. Finally reached the turn-around buoy, but it seemed like we only turned 90 degrees around it, so I figured that we would turn again after a short distance. This second turn never seemed to come! “How come we’re not turning around?” We were swimming directly into a blindingly bright, rising sun and I couldn’t see anything ahead – and I became completely disoriented as to the direction I should be going. At this part of the course, we were making a gradual turn to the right, but there was a lane of swimmers just to the left of me, going the opposite direction! At first I thought this was my group heading home after the turn – but they actually were the next group heading out TO the turn. Even though I was still following the guys around me, I stopped swimming for a moment to look around! After I got my bearings, I realized, much to my surprise, that I was half-way home to the finish! That was one of the best moments of the day! I was starting to get worried that I wasn’t even half done with the swim (and getting tired!), and to suddenly realize that I was almost done gave me a big surge of energy! I could start to hear the cheers of the crowd, and before I knew it, I was climbing out of the water! This was exciting! I HAD SURVIVED THE SWIM!!! There were spectators everywhere, with banners and cheers of encouragement – they were all lined up around the transition area. A big cheer went out as I started to strip-off the upper part of my wetsuit, but before I could get flattered, I realized the cheer was for the guy behind me who was so dizzy that the lifeguards were helping him out of the water! Tomorrow, I’ll tell you about the Bike and how a crucial error at 4 am can come back and haunt you 5 hours later! Dr. Jim Did you miss one of Dr. Jim's previous entries? 
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