Bummer

Well, this morning I had my first negative feelings about the race. Part of the swim course was open for practice in Chankanaab beach so I decided to check it out. There was a big storm yesterday and it seems to have left a strong north wind which creates large waves (apparently when the wind is from a different direction the waves are not so bad). There is a long dock that we will jump off of to start the swim and head north to the first turn buoy. Today the first buoy was 700 meters out; I am not sure if that will be the distance on race day or not. They only had two buoys set up for the practice today and with the large waves they were impossible to see so I tried to site from the bottom of the ocean. With the strong current as you head north, your body wants to head straight out to sea, perpendicular to the buoys so you have to be careful to site well. It felt like I was making absolutely no forward progress as I headed north and I found myself getting frustrated by the current and the jelly fish. I was stung many times and although the stings are not terrible, it caused me to get out of any kind of swim groove.

Once I turned and headed south, I was back to the dock in a matter of minutes. The jelly fish were still a nuisance, but the excitement of making forward progress more than made up for the stings.

It was a good lesson and I am very glad that I learned it today and not on race morning. As of now, the forecast for Sunday does not call for 20mph north winds like we have today and maybe we will have calm seas for our swim, but no matter what the conditions, I will race with all I have and be grateful for the opportunity that I have been blessed with to be here.