Colin's Hope Got2Swim Quarry Lake 2013 race report.
Pam was signed up the Colin's Hope Got2Swim Quarry Lake Swim and wanted company, and Jamie said it sounded like it fit in perfectly to end my "do whatever you want 2 weeks", so I signed up. We could either do 1 loop (750m) or 2 loops (1500m), so I signed up for 2. Why not.
This is probably the last time Quarry Lake will be wetsuit legal, so I opted to wear my sleeveless wetsuit. Yes, the one I always complain about how chokey it is. And it is. But somehow not as bad as I remembered. And hey, if it's less chokey now, when I'm 5lbs over my desired Ironman racing weight, just think of how much more tolerable it will be when I lose those 5lbs! Presumably at least a pound of it will be from my neck, right? Right.
With Pam, about to swim!
The swim was fun. Very small field, lots of kayak and paddleboard support, and great weather. I joked to Meghan that I was going to draft off of her, but I knew she was too fast for me to hang with her. Sure enough, pretty quickly I ended up completely by myself. I tried to jump on one guy's feet as he zoomed by, but he was gone in an instant.
So I just settled in and did my own thing! It took me maybe half a loop to stop feeling constricted and wheezey from the wetsuit+effort, but then it was fine. I was a little nervous about how the second loop would feel, because it's been a while since I pushed myself very hard for more than 1 Quarry loop, but I felt okay. We did have the option to swim up close to the dock as we ended our first loop, so they could time each loop, but I decided I'd rather get a faster time than know exactly what my loops were.
And before I knew it, I was back to the beach again! As I swam toward the shore, I had to stop myself from strategizing how I was going to take off my wetsuit. I don't have to take off my wetsuit! I'm not transitioning into any other sport! Swim and done!
Out of the water and across a timing mat, and done!
Cheered in the rest of the swimmers, enjoyed, but did not participate, in the cannonball contest (Pam participated and got herself a cannonball-related injury, so I chose wisely), won some schwag in the raffle, and then headed out for a 45 minute run while Pam jumped back in for an hour or so of aquajogging.
With Pam, having swam! (And the top half of my awesome Aquaman bathing suit.)
It was hot. It was about 10:15 at that point, full sun. Oof. And 45 minutes gets you a lot of 1k loops. But I gutted it out, thinking how I was basically doing the long version of Splash'n'Dash, and how that probably meant the actual S&D on Tuesday would be really mentally hard. As I came around the last time, almost done, I saw some people trying to get in the gate and having trouble. Upon further inspection, it was Matt and my pups! I let them in, and then we ran the pups around the last bend and back to my starting point. Yay!
Matt and pups!
Overall it was a nice way to spend a Saturday morning, and I'm glad Pam invited me. I ended up 5th woman overall, just behind Meghan ("just" meaning over a minute, so not really just), finishing in 25:43.
I'd love to do the 4 miler in July, but it's the day after Skeese Greets, and training for both of those simultaneously would be.. weird. So hopefully I can do another of the Colin's Hope events in the future!
This is probably the last time Quarry Lake will be wetsuit legal, so I opted to wear my sleeveless wetsuit. Yes, the one I always complain about how chokey it is. And it is. But somehow not as bad as I remembered. And hey, if it's less chokey now, when I'm 5lbs over my desired Ironman racing weight, just think of how much more tolerable it will be when I lose those 5lbs! Presumably at least a pound of it will be from my neck, right? Right.
With Pam, about to swim!
The swim was fun. Very small field, lots of kayak and paddleboard support, and great weather. I joked to Meghan that I was going to draft off of her, but I knew she was too fast for me to hang with her. Sure enough, pretty quickly I ended up completely by myself. I tried to jump on one guy's feet as he zoomed by, but he was gone in an instant.
So I just settled in and did my own thing! It took me maybe half a loop to stop feeling constricted and wheezey from the wetsuit+effort, but then it was fine. I was a little nervous about how the second loop would feel, because it's been a while since I pushed myself very hard for more than 1 Quarry loop, but I felt okay. We did have the option to swim up close to the dock as we ended our first loop, so they could time each loop, but I decided I'd rather get a faster time than know exactly what my loops were.
And before I knew it, I was back to the beach again! As I swam toward the shore, I had to stop myself from strategizing how I was going to take off my wetsuit. I don't have to take off my wetsuit! I'm not transitioning into any other sport! Swim and done!
Out of the water and across a timing mat, and done!
Cheered in the rest of the swimmers, enjoyed, but did not participate, in the cannonball contest (Pam participated and got herself a cannonball-related injury, so I chose wisely), won some schwag in the raffle, and then headed out for a 45 minute run while Pam jumped back in for an hour or so of aquajogging.
With Pam, having swam! (And the top half of my awesome Aquaman bathing suit.)
It was hot. It was about 10:15 at that point, full sun. Oof. And 45 minutes gets you a lot of 1k loops. But I gutted it out, thinking how I was basically doing the long version of Splash'n'Dash, and how that probably meant the actual S&D on Tuesday would be really mentally hard. As I came around the last time, almost done, I saw some people trying to get in the gate and having trouble. Upon further inspection, it was Matt and my pups! I let them in, and then we ran the pups around the last bend and back to my starting point. Yay!
Matt and pups!
Overall it was a nice way to spend a Saturday morning, and I'm glad Pam invited me. I ended up 5th woman overall, just behind Meghan ("just" meaning over a minute, so not really just), finishing in 25:43.
I'd love to do the 4 miler in July, but it's the day after Skeese Greets, and training for both of those simultaneously would be.. weird. So hopefully I can do another of the Colin's Hope events in the future!