Barb and I caught the free transportation to T1, and I dropped off my special needs bags and topped off my tires. One thing to keep in mind is that this is a very long day for spectators too. With the hyperfocus that comes with all of the logistics of this race it’s sometimes easy to forget that. Many thanks to my wife for cheering me on for what would be a very long day that started before 4 in the morning.
After taking care of everything at T1, it was time to say goodbye to my wife and catch the bus to the swim start two and a half miles up the road. Unfortunately we had to drop off our morning clothes bag at T1, so it was a very spandexy bus ride. While waiting in line for the bus, a wise Minnesotan near me was chatting with another first time Ironman racer. He gave an analogy that I would keep in my mind for the duration of the race. This race is like when you get a rental car and prepay for gas. You’ve only got so much gas to burn, and you want to end up with an empty tank. If you leave gas in the tank, then that little bit was wasted. But if you run out of gas before you’re done with the car, you’ll find yourself on the side of the road. It was a good reminder that this was going to be a very long day and burning up too much gas too early would come back to haunt me.
After the short bus ride to the start, it was time for the obligatory pit stop. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a race where there were enough portapotties at the start, and this race was no exception. At least waiting in line gave me something to do other than mull over every detail of the day in my head. Perhaps it was a good thing that I had to wait in line. I was still in line when the pro men started, and I made it to the start about the time the pro women headed off. I was in the 4th or 5th wave of age-groupers, so I still had some time. Because of the logistics of this swim start, it was a wave start. So at least I didn’t have to deal with 2300 people starting all at once. But there were about 400 people in my age group, so it was still a big wave.
After watching a few waves go, it was my turn. I positioned myself near the back of my wave as we were waiting on the ramp. Once it was our turn to get in and swim a hundred yards to the start line, we started filing into the water. The ramp to get into the water only allowed about three or four people at a time to get into the water. With such a large wave, it took us forever to get in. I was one of the last ones off the ramp, and I had barely hit the water when the start horn blared. At least I didn’t have to tread water waiting for the start, but now I had an extra hundred yards to swim while the clock was running! No more time for thinking about the race, I was actually, finally, really doing this!
Things weren’t too chaotic since the crowd was pretty thin at the back of my AG. I bounced back and forth between a couple sets of feet and felt okay. Being an adult onset swimmer, my technique isn’t perfect. I tend to take in just a little bit of water when I breathe. That’s not a big deal in fresh water, but it can add up to issues in salt water. I tried to focus on my breathing, but I kept trying to find good feet to follow. Knowing that this was a long day, and that swimming was the only time I could draft, it seemed like the right thing to do. In retrospect, I put too much emphasis on drafting and not enough on my own technique.
After reading race reports from previous years, it seemed pretty clear that the stronger currents are generally farther from shore. Since we were swimming down current, I decided to swim as far from shore as was allowed. The buoys were coming a bit slower than I thought they would be, so I decided to look at my watch, which I have never done during the swimming portion of a race. What I saw absolutely floored me. It said I had done 0.6 miles in 35 minutes! That pace puts me right at the cutoff time! I didn’t come to Mexico to DNF on the swim. I had two choices: start swimming harder or start swimming smarter. I knew swimming harder would get me in under the cutoff time, but would have serious consequences for the remaining 90% of the race.
It was time to swim smarter. I would focus on technique and follow feet if they were really convenient. About this time I puked a little bit in my mouth from all of the salt water I was taking in. This was a real palate cleanser, and I didn’t have problems with the salt water for the rest of the swim. Maybe things would turn around after all. While I was focusing on technique, I decided to really enjoy the beautiful scenery below me. Granted it wasn’t as nice as the diving I would do later in the week, but it sure beats a reservoir with, maybe, three feet of visibility. The visibility here was about a hundred feet, so it was easy to see the bottom and I could usually sight below the water and find the next buoy line by the time I was halfway to the next buoy. That is except when athlete wristbands were floating by blocking my vision!
While enjoying the scenery, I noticed something interesting. The sea fans below me were all being bent toward the start line by the current! Clearly I was swimming up current. Remembering back to the race reports saying that the current was strongest farthest from shore, I decided to head toward shore. Once I got there, I was still swimming up current, but it was definitely less current. Another few hundred meters and I noticed the sea fans were now pointed toward the swim finish! I was able to overcome the first curveball of the day. This day just might be salvageable.
About halfway through I did get stung on my foot by a no-see-um. It felt like a little pin prick. It’s certainly nothing to be worried about, but something to be aware of. I think I got stung a few more times, but after the first one, I barely noticed anything. I kept focus on technique and watching for switching currents. The currents never really switched and it was pretty smooth swimming into the swim exit. The actual exit is a bit difficult after you’ve been swimming for a while. The bottom step on the ladder is only a few inches below the water. I had practiced the exit the day before so I was fine. I grabbed the middle railing, hoisted my arse up onto the bottom step (backwards), butt-hopped onto the second step (backwards), and got my feet under me. I turned around and started the long trek toward T1.
A quick glance at my watch showed 1:27! I haven’t looked into my data in depth, but it took 35 minutes for the first quarter of the swim, and 52 minutes for the last three quarters of the swim. I think it’s safe to say that the current played a huge role in that. My stretch goal for the swim and transitions combined was 2:00, so I was a bit ahead of that pace. Maybe today is my day.