Great Chesapeake Bay Swim 2013

Goal:    Under 3:30
Actual:  DNF

Well...I didn't finish, but I had a blast trying.  Here's how this year's Bay Swim went for me.

Before the swim...

The weather conditions were sick! Air temps in the 70's to low 80's. A mostly overcast day with little chance of rain and no wind. Water temp of 76 degrees. Flat calm, even in the first channel. PERFECT. I was pumped!

 P and I rode the bus across the bridge together and I couldn't help but think of all the road trips we've taken together, the many races we've done together, and the "firsts" we've shared along the way. And this would be another first:  P's first Bay Swim!

We had spent months training for this, doing the long weekend swims together, suffering through thousands of laps and hours in the pool...Colonies Zones, the Centennial Lake 1 Miler, the back-to-back Reston swims. Finally, we are here and it's go time!

It would be Tracey, Keri and Nicolas' first Bay Swim too. So, when we arrived at Sandy Point State Park, I was so happy to see how calm the water looked and what a perfect day we had ahead of us. As Swim Coach Mark said, it's a perfect day for the swim!

 We had a nice contingent of Team Zers there, including our own personal cheer crew! Janet, Rich, Mike, Holly, and Greg had the familiar green "spirit wands" and Team Z green attire.

Holly had flown in from Alabama to surprise Keri. It reminded me of last year, when Tracey and Nicolas surprised the hell out of me right there on the beach before the swim! Today we would be swimming the bay together. (Well, actually, both would be swimming ahead of me...but that's just a minor detail ;).

We got suited up, listened to the pre-race briefing, got some final words of advice from Mark, and hugged our cheer crew.

Here we go! We're doing this.

We crossed the timing mat and Tracey, P, and I stood on the beach together, waiting for the swim start. I was so excited to be swimming this bay with some of my best buddies!

Mile 1

Courtesy: Eye on Annapolis

It was the usual crazy crowded start with hundreds of people all headed for a couple of buoys marking our turn underneath the bridge spans. I couldn't wait to get to the bridges where the crowd would thin out and I could get in my groove.

The water was so flat and calm--better than last year. I couldn't believe our luck!! My goal for mile 1 was to beat last year's time of 39 minutes....and with conditions this great, I swam it in 36 minutes. So far so good!

Mile 2
I kept telling myself to keep up my turnover and pick up the pace! I pictured my watch saying 3:22 when I stepped out of the bay on the other side. And I mentally prepared myself for the first channel, which I assumed would be a wild roller coaster ride like last year. But, even in the channel, the rough water wasn't there! Unbelievable. 

I kept swimming and checking my watch. Had I missed the 2 mile marker? I was closing in on 1:15, why wasn't I there yet? Finally, I spotted the red buoy up ahead. The minutes ticked off in slow motion and by the time I made it, I had been swimming for 1.5 hours. 


Okay, so I was averaging 45 minutes/mile--that wasn't out of the question-- but I didn't understand why the second mile was so much slower than the first, especially in this calm water. The current wasn't supposed to kick in until between miles 3 and 4, right?

 Mile 3
Swimming past the 2 mile marker, feeling good. This is when I started to pay attention to the current and  noticed it gradually getting stronger. I moved to the left side of the swim "lane" and angled myself into the current. I took my first GU, wondered how my peeps were doing, and pictured celebrating with them at the finish line. This was so much fun!

This is when I had Kayak Encounter #1. The kayaker pulled up right next to me and was yelling to get my attention--then angled the nose of the kayak in front of me!! OMG! I was startled --why would someone block me with their kayak? Was there some kind of emergency? Was I getting pulled? WTF?? 

I popped up and asked the woman what was going on. She informed me that I was swimming "toward" the left bridge span. Well, yeah! I informed her that the current was coming from the left and I was angling myself to fight the current. She told me I needed to swim straighter. I told her not to worry, if I passed under the span she could disqualify me. And she said "Oookay"....in an I-told-you-so-but-you-aren't-listening-and-will-pay-for-it-later voice!!  OMG!! Why do I have to stop and explain myself to a kayaker? I know she was trying to be helpful, but still.

The more I swam, the less forward progress I seemed to be making and the more I had to angle myself to the left into the current. 45 minutes passed and I still wasn't at the 3 mile marker. This was definitely the current kicking in and kicking in hard! 

I had the red buoy in sight but it was taking forever to get there. The feed boat was also there--on the right side of the lane. If I stopped at the boat I would have to fight my way back to the left in the current. 

This is where I had Kayak Encounter #2. Again, I heard shouting and thought something was wrong. It was a kayaker helpfully telling me that the 3 mile buoy was up ahead and so was the feed boat. Nice of him, but it stopped my forward motion. Ugh. 

I finally reached the 3 mile marker and had Kayak Encounter #3. It was a really nice woman offering me water. Since I wasn't going to swim over to the feed boat, I decided to take her up on it. I grabbed my second GU, held onto the nose of the kayak, and downed the water. 

Big mistake! When I turned around to start swimming again I noticed I was no longer at the 3 mile buoy. The current had swept the kayak --and me-- back and to the right. I had to fight my way back to the 3 mile marker. An unnecessary waste of energy and time, though drinking some water was nice. 

Time check:  It had taken me an hour to swim from miles 2 to 3. Not good.

Mile 4
This is when things started going downhill fast. Thanks to my water break, I was now closer to the right bridge span and the current was really cranking. I managed to make some forward progress, but it kept getting harder.  

Looking up at the bridge over my right shoulder, I picked out one of the bridge supports and focused on swimming past it. I did this repeatedly. Eventually, it was taking longer to inch past each beam. 

I glanced at my watch: 3 hours had gone by. The fasties had finished almost an hour ago! Sheesh. At this point, I knew I probably wasn't going to make the 4 mile marker before the cutoff. The nice kayaker who had given me the water was still next to me...and some official-looking guy on a jet ski was hovering nearby. I figured he was the "decision man," and would soon be deciding my fate.

Well, I wasn't going down without a fight. I had to show Decision Man that I was making forward progress! I pulled hard and kicked even harder. I was swimming almost sideways at this point, swimming as hard as I could! Damn current! I was going nowhere. Not moving forward AT ALL.

My arms and shoulders were really feeling it, but I still had a lot of energy. As crazy as it may sound, it was kind of fun to feel the force of the water like this. I was in the coolest endless pool on the planet!

DNF
Finally, I heard a whistle. It was Decision Man up ahead on his jet ski. The kayak woman told me it was time to call it quits and head for the sag boat. She said the remaining swimmers were being pulled...we had missed the cutoff. I grabbed the back of her kayak and she paddled me over to one of the boats.

Made it almost to the pilings

The people on the boat were so nice---offering me water and snacks and a blanket. I had just DNF'd the Bay Swim but I was in a pretty good mood! The other swimmers on the boat, however, were not. A Lake Placid Ironman finisher told me she wanted to cry, she felt like a failure. A guy who had been swimming without a wetsuit looked like his dog had just died. But....I was okay with it all.

Swimming the bay was a blast, regardless of whether I actually made it to the other side. What mattered most to me was knowing that I had given it my all and pushed as hard as I possibly could. I knew there was nothing more I could've done to match the power of that current. 

And that's a wrap....
...for this year's Bay Swim. I wish the conditions would've been better for the first timers.
I was so proud of P. She didn't give up and only stopped when she was forced to. We celebrated the day with a Diet Coke, courtesy of Janet, and some giant chocolate bars Mike had given us. Then everyone headed over to Hemingway's for lunch. I was happy to be sitting there among friends, reliving our adventure and talking about "next time..."  And there will be a next time.