the swimming

That didn't go that well. I've been at it for seven weeks, and I cannot yet swim crawl. I mean I can, but only for a short while. Then I run our of energy, and - even before that - out of oxygen. I got to the point where I can coordinate the breathing with all the rest of it (somewhat), but the breathing is shallow and doesn't take me very far. It is my understanding other people get this much faster. Someone at the YMCA told me I am trying too hard. Really? I am confused; I thought I wasn't trying hard enough.

Anyhow, I am working on it. The triathlon in the meantime is tomorrow. I have done breaststroke for a mile, so I am pretty confident I won't drown in the middle of the lake. That's double the race distance, but I know it's still easier than dealing with the reality of the lake - the other swimmers, the swap of the water, the cold temperature. Yeah, it's going to be cold. The email regarding packet pick-up said "bring your wetsuits," but I got that yesterday. I never swam in a wetsuit before, and I had not planned on buying one, money-wise, and it's too late to try it out anyhow. I wish the website would have said something about that before. I guess everyone else knows about it. I guess everyone has wetsuits, and they just throw them in their bag tomorrow. Right?

Oh, and there's more. There's a cut-off time. Now the website mentioned something about that ("bike course closed"), and I asked what that means and didn't get a real answer. So I asked again and was told "don't worry about that, worry about your race." Hmmmm... If you you think I found this condescending, you are right. Only to find out at packet pick-up that there IS a cut-off time. So I have to worry about it.

Because I will be slow. Between the breaststroke, and whatever pace I can produce on the bike, and the fumbling in transition areas, I will be slow. I think can make it in the cut-off time - maybe. I am prepared to be the last one in this race. I will be happy to be the last one - that means finishing.