I guess I should mention yesterday. Yesterday was a handful. It actually started with Tuesday, May 24th. The a.m started with 2 hard ass sprints on the bike on Commenwealth. Then at night was a hard workout on the treadmill along with a 1.2ish miles on the elliptical. Wednesday was the school's Lag B'Omer Picnic and I decided last minute to attend. I have been going on a lot of school events so I didn't think I would go. Still, I never missed it yet!
Can't miss an opportunity tho. Had Lee and the kids drop me off at 188th street and Union Turnpike. I walked to the Run For Israel 5K start so I can preview the course. Ran the 5K and then ran home. Right before the 5K was over, I hear my name being belted out. I passed right near the Bryck's and Tammi saw me. She was getting yet another sponser. God bless them.
Got home, walked the dog, showered and got on the bike to the picnic. Spent time there and then off on the bike. Who do I see at the triangle? DD getting ready to ride. Rode with him to the College and did 2 loops and then headed back home. Yet another shower and food and tried to relax before heading to the YMCA for a swim. Hard workout. Lost 4 pounds between those 2 days and feeling strange. Stoped swimming at 3,000. I was at the edge where just 1 more (lap, yard, foot, something) could have pushed me to the edge and got me injured. I was happy stopping feeling like I could do more rather then doing more and getting injured. Smart choice in my opinion. Now time to rest before this weekend.
The train had published work being done to it and when I got there they announced that the trains were runnign every 15 minutes. OK. Still had time. Waited and waited and they announced an express train. Ran down and ran up to another track. Took the express to 14th street which terminated there and walked from there.
Started seeing swimmers. Went to check in and found out about the waves. There are 6 waves and I was in the last wave. ARGH!
Saw Baker who is training for IM Arizona. Short thin guy who is super fast on the bike and run and working hard on the swim. Talked to a few other people too.
They were supposed to start at 8 but clearly they were running late. Explanation regarding the waves. Wave 1 was the slowest. Wave 2 was faster and wave 3 was faster. The first 3 waves were the slowest. Wave 4 - 6 were faster where wave 4 was the fastest followed by a slower wave and a slower wave. I was (in theory) in the slowest of the fastest.
I like being able to swim into a previous wave. Mental boost and all but would I be able to catch other waves? I don't know. Also, in triathlons, different waves are marked by different color caps but here we were all wearing pink which sucks.
Normally they are very organized but here they can learn a little. Some of the waves were small. Wave 1 had about 12 people. Still, soon enough it was time for me to jump in and oops...I forgot to swallow my gum. Swallowed in mid 10 foot drop. Water was cold. I don't believe it was 61 degrees like they said. Whatever.
In the past, this race was billed as either a 1.3 mile swim or a 1.6 mile swim. This year, they explained it on Facebook. It is the same exact race as previous editions but finally this time, they included the 0.15 to the river from the dock plus the distance from the river into the marina.
The race started and I am in the front. Swam to the buoy and let people catch up a little. It's ok. I don't want to fight anyone in the water. The river is long and wide enough.
They promised us that this is the transition period between the ebb and tide and that the river will be at it's calmest and that the tide will be a little against us. Wonderful. Why not give us a tidal assist?
I should also mention that a LOT more people are swimming this year without a wetsuit. What is wrong with people? Sucks to be them.
My plan was to swim straight until the ferry terminal. Over there the current/tides/waves (whatever) makes for rough water. This time, every time a boat passed us, we would get hit by wake/waves whatever. All I know is that they had a lot of boats carrying for us which is great but everytime they moved around we got bounced around. Can't tell where the ferry terminal is with all the bouncing.
They told us to make left turns at the orange buoys and straight with the 7 yellow buoys. I lost count almost immediatly.
Can't tell where I am because I lost count and because we are getting bounced constantly. Still, I think I spy an Orange buoy. I constantly sight ahead and correct course but it's rough going. Could be worse.
I swim and suddenly I hear a boat horn. LOUD! I look up and there is a huge boat there forcing us to make the left turn at the Orange buoy into the marina area. It was a little scary for a second but also good news.
Tried to go hard and fast. Finally into the marina opening and now much much harder. The water got much colder too and I think it was because of an even bigger boat there blocking out the son.
Climbed the stairs out of the water and across the mat to the girl with the hose to get rinsed off. Got my medal, food and got dressed. Grabbed a cab to Penn Station for the 9:40 train to Bellerose.
Good morning so far, got to the YMCA only missing the first 25 minutes of Jessie's Tennis class.
Showered, lunch and back to the YMCA and family regrouped together. Jeremy played the tennis ladder, school stuff and then they both swam. Day is done. Tomorrow is another day.
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