My confidence has gotten really really high on the swimming portion....until yesterday. I went with my tri-team members to Shelter Cove lagoon out on Whitemarsh Island. One gal has two friends who live there with docks who generously allow TNT tri team folks to practice there. The lagoon is one mile end to end. The picture is really dreary because bad weather was moving in but it held off long enough for us to do our practice.
I've obsessed about alligators in the lagoon which is fresh water and that is what the 'gators like. My obsession has been fed by Joe's concern also. I quizzed the owners for 15 minutes about 'gators and they assured me there are none. Everyone remembers a small one about 15 years ago that the Dept of Natural Resources captured but none since. All the people let their kids and dogs swim in the lagoon and watch it carefully. On Skidaway Island, there isn't one freshwater lagoon without 'gators and they migrate between lagoons-----so that is the root of my skepticism.
We got in the water, temp about 77 or 78, and started. At first I could see the sandy bottom through the murky water and felt OK. As I moved on, I couldn't see the bottom and that is when the anxiety and confusion started. I really felt I couldn't breath properly. I stopped and started and stopped and started, treading water, doing the side-stroke to get my bearings. I never felt unsafe--I could have tread water for an hour but I just couldn't make progress swimming. One of my mates swam along with me to assure me he had been in the lagoon many times and that his first few times were similar with slight panic and inability to navigate. At one point I got myself turned around and was actually swimming in the WRONG DIRECTION. I have no idea how that happened. Did I swim a 180 degree half-circle? I could only laugh at myself. It goes to show you how different pool versus lake can be.
I spent a lot of time in lakes growing up, much of it in Lake Murval. Our neighbors (Jeannie Hand and her parents) used to go up there camping and I learned to water-ski there with the Hands. I also spent countless hours on inter-tubes there. Well, floating on an inter-tube and swimming blind are totally un-related activities.
So, after starting and stopping and swimming in circles, literally, I made it to the sand bar where the water is about three feet deep. I stayed there while the other team-mates continued up the cove. All but one are training for an Olympic Triathlon, which requires a much longer swim that I need to do. When they came back, Cate swam with me back to our start, continuing to reassure me that her first time in the open water was similar and with multiple experiences she gained confidence. Cate is married to an IronMan Triathlete Todd, the real deal, whom Joe and I have met. I'll save that for another posting but these IronMan athletes are very cool dudes and dudettes. Cate is very typical, I find, of many of the TNT people. She claims to not be a natural athlete and works hard to improve every day. She is sweet as can be, freshly graduated as a nurse. She promised that in our next outing she will do a drill with me that Todd did with her. She will swim behind me and pull at my legs and lightly hit my legs with her hands, simulating what happens in the open water when swimmers are piled up together. Running into each other swimming in the water is inevitable but intimidating if you've never had the experience. In total, I did more than the 1/3 mile I need to do in Lake Lanier but it wasn't pretty. It did help to be able to visualize in water what 1/3 mile looks like---not so bad really. Thinking about it now, I suppose my overall confidence in the water helped so that I didn't literally panic and have to be pulled out for my own safety.
The owners of the property offered to all of us that we can use their dock at any time. I plan to go back a few times, with Joe for safety, and just go back-n-forth across the lagoon to practice. Cate and David also gave me tips about navigating and suggested that I swim breathing on both sides ( I only breathe on one side now). They said that breathing on one side tends to draw one's swimming off a straight line, if you can't see a line in the pool to navigate. That and the corkscrew are drill I need to practice in the safety of my chlorinated pool. I now get what Adiel, the swim coach, told me about swimming some with head out of water looking ahead to be able to navigate. I need to work on that more too.
One more thing. Gabi, who is our biking coach, was with us yesterday at the lagoon. She teaches the spin class I take once a week too. She is from Germany and I tease her about being a tough task-master. At class she frequently mentions working a shift and this-n-that about her shifts. I just assumed she was a nurse. WRONG! She is a City of Savannah fire-fighter and my new hero. She has two Masters degrees: a MBA and a Masters of Historical Preservation but could never find work in her field---so she became a fire-fighter. I love these TNT activities but the best part is about the neat people I get to hang around. Jen is a veterinarian. Cate is the new nurse, married to Todd the IronMan. I am not sure about Virginia but I think she is a medical student or intern? Adorable! Karin is a high school coach with a six year old, who got involved because her husband was diagnosed with leukemia and is now doing great after some grueling treatments. I'll cover the guys on a future post. Please note how young these people are! Our kids are older for crying out loud!
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