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This past Saturday, I competed in my first open water race of the year, the 40th Annual Ft Lauderdale Rough Water Swim. It was, as the name indicates, a rough water swim. What made it rough wasn't really the choppy waves that were churning up the shore, or the fear of a shark coming up to eat me, but a not-so-glorious battle that ensued between myself and another swimmer.
We started on the beach, conveniently in front of my hotel. It was a beautiful morning and I early anticipated the start of the race, which would be my first for the 2010 season. I would be in the 4th wave of swimmers, based on age groups. At the start of the horn, the mass of the 4th wave ran and leapt full force into the water to begin the 1 mile ocean swim. A good kick off the start and the implementation of new strategy around the buoys helped me get an early lead on the rest of the female pack. I quickly fell in line after 2 males, as another crept up to my side. I was not in a good position to draft, so did my best to maintain position in the point to point race, using the shore as indication of my position. Swimming stroke for stroke, my new racing partner and I battled for position. Literally. We occasionally body slammed each other, trying to maintain our line.
It was frustrating, as neither one of us was getting any benefit from working against each other (as opposed to helping each other draft) and body checking each other through the race, not allowing proper stroke form. I don't have the fortunate ability to train in the ocean, so I sighted more than usual due to the waves and my circumstance with my neighbor. With the lack of sand and beach training, my neighbor, upon exiting the water, quickly passed me on the sand up the chute to the finish line, along with 2 other guys who were behind us. That goes to show you the importance of circumstantial training....you don't get much sand here in Atlanta to train on.
Either way, It was a very fun race and I'll just have to become creative on how I can get better for water exits. All in all, I came in 1st female overall, and 7th overall including men. Returning back home from Ft Lauderdale to 17 degree weather was a real shocker, which made me think I'll take a battle on the beach over this weather any time!!!
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