Race Result

Racer:	Katie Davison
Race:	Great Chesapeake Bay Swim
Date:	Sunday, June 10, 2007
Location:	Chesapeake, MD
Race Type:	Swim - Swim Meet
Age Group:	Female 25 - 29
Time:	1:53:55
Comment:	I am still not too sure what I thought about this….

Race Report:

This was my frist year for the 4.4 mile Bay Swim. I am still not too sure what I thought about it….

***GOALS***

2:00:00, about 26min/mile average

***RESULTS***

1:53:55, 25:54min/mile average

***PRERACE***

I woke up at 4:45am to be on the road a little after 5. I had not slept too well the night before (I never do the night before a race). I love that pre-race anxious/exciting feeling. The drive was pretty uneventful until I got lost (the usual). I have real problems when I get away from Reston… the road signs for 495/95/etc are very misleading. I called Julie O in a panic and she guided me in the right direction (Thanks ☺). I think I am going to invent a tracker chip to place on me that when I call my friends for help they know exactly where I am. When I call them and do not know where I am it is a little hard for anyone to help me. Hmmm driving over the bridge I began to get very nervous and uneasy about swimming this whole way in wide open water. I was happy to arrive at the Park & Ride at the same time as Julie and Jane and have company on the school bus ride over to Sandy Point. We arrived with ample time to go to the bathroom, register, relax, go to the bathroom again and again ☺ Before the pre-race meeting it was fun hanging out with some of my World Gators family, Jane, Scott, and Ken. It was great to do the race with you guys!

***RACE***

After all the waiting we were finally on the beach. The first wave was off and then it was our turn. Beep beep beep boo boop beep as we passed over the timing mats. And then we were off. I had unstrategically placed myself right in the middle. UGGH…the start was NOT fun. I just held my breathe and went…no breathing in that mess. As we got to the bridge to start swimming down the bridge spans the crowd thinned out. OH WOW….this is gonna be rough…we are not in Lake Audobon anymore! Anyways I tried to position myself directly in the middle of the bridges (we were to swim inbetween them and if we went outside either one it would result in being taken off the course). After getting into the middle I tried to think about good form and settling into a zone (which was a bit hard with the thrashing water and people). After a bit (I had no watch so had no idea what my timing was…bad idea)….I came to a big orange buoy. This must be the 1st mile marker. The current was coming from the left side and being a stronger left side breather I was swallowing a LOT of water. I felt pretty good the 2nd mile and felt that I got into a good rhythm. Then I started to feel yucky…I felt myself having a difficult time keeping in the middle and was being pulled toward the right bridge. Every so often I would try to swim perpendicular to the bridges to get to the left one. This was not working…so I gave up on that and just tried to stay in bounds. Then I came upon another mile marker…I was hoping it was the 4th but was wrong when I saw the big 3 on it…CRUD. I felt sick…I felt like I was going to be really sick after this was over. My stomach hurt from swallowing so much water and my arms were cramping. I felt like I was spinning my arms and going nowhere. I was sad and wanted to be done. Then finally the 4th mile marker...HOORAY only .4 to go (yea right…seemed the course might have been a bit mismarked). This last bit took FOREVER. As I got to the end of the bridge spans I was not sure where we were heading so I just kept swimming. The course went to the right and then I saw the beach…although it was still SO FAR! GOOD GRIEF! I saw people standing up…so I would stand and dive down to try and get there faster. Then I just swam with my head down and hoped I would get there. I seemed to be drifting to the right as well..everyone else was way to the left. And then finally I was there.

***POSTRACE***

It was strange to be vertical again….I went to a bucket to get some water and fell down into it because I wanted to be horizontal and my sensory perception was a bit off. I drank the water and started feeling better. There were some nice firemen with hoses so I got a shower, found my stuff, and then found my friends. Everyone seemed delerious and staggering around.

***LESSONS LEARNED***

Wear a watch. Don’t start in the middle. Wear a sleeveless wetsuit (not necessarily due to overheating but the full sleeve really strained my shoulders toward the end).

***NEXT YEAR***

So that was the Bay Swim! HUH I still feel like I have been run through the washing machine. Will I do this again? If you would have asked me right when I got out of the water I would have said HECKS NO! But now I say…You better believe it! (I just wish it was not $250!)