Well I haven't raced in quite awhile, and I committed to swimming on a 4 x 400 relay team yesterday, so I figured I might as well sign up for the 1.2-mile solo swim. The race was in Las Colinas (same place as the Playtri Festival), and it is a little unusual swimming in canal between office buildings. The 1.2-mile swim started at 8 am. I tried to make my way to the front, but it was pretty tough. So I started in about the second row of people. The start was pretty violent considering there were only 58 people. I got thrashed a few times, but I sucked it up because that is the fun part of open water swimming. At first I was duking it out with a few boys, but then I let them get ahead so I could enjoy the draft. That was definitely a good strategy, and I was able to ease up a bit (a good thing since I haven't been swimming much these days). I stayed right behind this one guy for pretty much the whole race, and I know I was annoying him by tapping on his feet and stuff. Towards the end of the race, I thought I saw a girl coming from behind and passing me, so I kicked it up a gear (and the throw-up sensation started to hit). Fortunately it was a boy. Well we got to the very end of the race, and the guy in front of me (who I was drafting off of) got up on the staircase and held a rail with each hand so I couldn't get past him, and he looked back at me. It turns out it was Jim Montgomery, the race director and an awesome swimmer (gold medalist, world champion, first person to break 50 in the 100 freestyle). I felt like kind of a jerk, but oh well. I won the women's division in 27:19, and the 2nd place girl finished in 28:43. I was 9th overall (8 boys ahead of me). I was very happy with my strategy and my effort (my triceps were on fire by the end of that swim!). Plus it was fun and it was something different besides swimming up-and-down in the pool.
At 10:00 we did the 4 x 400 relay. I anchored, and I think I caught one person, but we finished 2nd overall. That was a pretty good performance. I think there were at least 10 teams, and we had 2 girls and 2 boys on the team (I'm pretty sure the winning team was all boys). Cliff and Jordan got there in time to see the relay, so I got to show off a little bit :) Afterwards, we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I was proud of myself for ordering the grilled chicken salad, but I offset that good decision with my three-biscuit appetizer. I had a FAT (2+ hour) nap in the afternoon, we lounged in the pool for a bit, and then Cliff, Jordan, Leslie, and I went to Joe T's for dinner. It seems like my life has revolved around eating and drinking for the past month or so. I am definitely ready to get back into a normal routine.
Results:
http://www.mychiptime.com/searchevent.php?id=3674
Our Studly Relay Team
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