Aquathlon Champion!
Aquathlon= 1 mile swim, 5k run. This was the qualifier for the Aquathlon World Championships in Beijing, China. I am not going because we are poor and the visa alone costs several hundred dollars. Maybe another year when it's a country that is easier to get into.
Before anyone thinks I'm bragging, this is what I really think about winning the Aquathlon National Championship in the age group 19-24. For one thing, I KNOW there are AT LEAST 200 collegiate swimmers that could have beaten me in the race this weekend. The problem is, no one knew about it. If I hadn't been looking for an aquathlon to do in Colorado for summer 2011, I would not have been in this race. But, I found it and signed up, and so did 4 others girls in my age group. Luckily for me, none of them were swimmers, and only 1 was a runner. Go figure. Here is what went down this weekend:
Friday, May 20th, 5:30 pm. We learn that the original aquathlon plan has been scrapped. The reservoir where the swim was going to take place is polluted and the E. coli count is 4x the safe limit. They did a water test at 3:30 pm and decided it was not safe to swim in. I panic because the whole reason I signed up for this race is that the swim and run portions of the race were about equal in time. I pick up my race number at Roadrunner Sports and I'm promised that I will receive an email with the new plan for the race sometime that night.
7:30 pm: I receive an email. We will be running the 5k at 9:00 am at the original location in Longmont, CO, about a 45 minute drive north from Austin's house. Then we will be driving for an hour south (past Austin's house) to swim at another location with clean water. Once again, I panic because I have to run a 5k without anything else attached onto it. That means I have to run fast. That means that everyone is going to beat me because I run marathons, not 5ks.
Saturday, May 21st, 9:00 am. I run the 5k. My lungs burn and start to tighten up. I have not run a race this short (or fast) for many years. I ate too much for breakfast. I come in at 22:45, which is WAY faster than I anticipated. I drink a whole bottle of water, wheeze for awhile, and then throw up. Afterwards, I feel MUCH better. I am in 2nd place in my age group, 1st place is 2 minutes in front of me. I wonder if I can make up 2 minutes on the swim.
10:45 am. I forgot my towel, so we stop by home sweet home to pick one up. Austin decides to help out in the yard for a bit, so I do a little stalking on my competition. The lady in front of me was a D-1 lacrosse player. I decide that I can definitely make up 2 minutes on her in the swim. hooray.
12:00 pm We arrive at the swim venue, a little lake at a very posh country club. The lake is 57 degrees. I think to myself that that isn't that cold because I've been in the ocean much colder than that. I forgot that I don't usually put my face in the ocean for 25 minutes straight. I warm-up and realize that my wetsuit is a tad too big. It takes on water as I go. Awesome.
12:30 pm. Our wave begins, and the sun comes out a little but the wind picks up. Swimming against the wind means fighting waves. My arms go numb, soon followed by my lips. I wonder why I do these tortuous races. There are only a few girls in front of me, and I can recognize that they are in much better swimming shape than me, so I just keep a good pace for me. I just want it to be over because I am so cold. The wind really picks up as we round the final buoy and have to swim against the wind into the finish. Austin fears that I will run into the bank I'm heading so sharply for land. I end up doing fine, and beating the teenager who was on my heels for most of the race. YES!
Overall, this was a great experience, and if circumstances allow, I will be competing in the National Championships of Aquathlon again. Next year I will "age-up", so we'll see how I fare against older women (25-29).
Friday, May 20th, 5:30 pm. We learn that the original aquathlon plan has been scrapped. The reservoir where the swim was going to take place is polluted and the E. coli count is 4x the safe limit. They did a water test at 3:30 pm and decided it was not safe to swim in. I panic because the whole reason I signed up for this race is that the swim and run portions of the race were about equal in time. I pick up my race number at Roadrunner Sports and I'm promised that I will receive an email with the new plan for the race sometime that night.
7:30 pm: I receive an email. We will be running the 5k at 9:00 am at the original location in Longmont, CO, about a 45 minute drive north from Austin's house. Then we will be driving for an hour south (past Austin's house) to swim at another location with clean water. Once again, I panic because I have to run a 5k without anything else attached onto it. That means I have to run fast. That means that everyone is going to beat me because I run marathons, not 5ks.
Saturday, May 21st, 9:00 am. I run the 5k. My lungs burn and start to tighten up. I have not run a race this short (or fast) for many years. I ate too much for breakfast. I come in at 22:45, which is WAY faster than I anticipated. I drink a whole bottle of water, wheeze for awhile, and then throw up. Afterwards, I feel MUCH better. I am in 2nd place in my age group, 1st place is 2 minutes in front of me. I wonder if I can make up 2 minutes on the swim.
10:45 am. I forgot my towel, so we stop by home sweet home to pick one up. Austin decides to help out in the yard for a bit, so I do a little stalking on my competition. The lady in front of me was a D-1 lacrosse player. I decide that I can definitely make up 2 minutes on her in the swim. hooray.
 |
| Not excited to get in and warm-up... too cold! |
12:00 pm We arrive at the swim venue, a little lake at a very posh country club. The lake is 57 degrees. I think to myself that that isn't that cold because I've been in the ocean much colder than that. I forgot that I don't usually put my face in the ocean for 25 minutes straight. I warm-up and realize that my wetsuit is a tad too big. It takes on water as I go. Awesome.
 |
| Waiting to get in the water at the start... |
12:30 pm. Our wave begins, and the sun comes out a little but the wind picks up. Swimming against the wind means fighting waves. My arms go numb, soon followed by my lips. I wonder why I do these tortuous races. There are only a few girls in front of me, and I can recognize that they are in much better swimming shape than me, so I just keep a good pace for me. I just want it to be over because I am so cold. The wind really picks up as we round the final buoy and have to swim against the wind into the finish. Austin fears that I will run into the bank I'm heading so sharply for land. I end up doing fine, and beating the teenager who was on my heels for most of the race. YES!
 |
| At this point I knew I won, and we were waiting for the awards to start... |
Overall, this was a great experience, and if circumstances allow, I will be competing in the National Championships of Aquathlon again. Next year I will "age-up", so we'll see how I fare against older women (25-29).
 |
| Champion! |
I think you were trying to downplay your champion achievement, but your description of all that you did totally made me exhausted and applaud your win all the more. :D good job!
ReplyDeleteI love it! Same ol' goggles too :-) Go Elisa!
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