good evening. first of all, wanted to say happy mother’s day again!!! hope you enjoyed your day!!
get this story. last year, mito-chan was telling me about the open water swim events in hawaii she was doing. i always wanted to do it but never had the chance or motivation. so when i got back to hawaii last week, i asked her about it again. she sent me the schedule a few days ago and i found out there was an event today. too soon? no practice? daijyobu? i thought about it and said “no”, but maybe next time. anyway, 2 days ago, i sent an email to the event director asking about the event. i had no response so i decided to wait till june for the next one. last night, i went to watch the UFC fight with some friends and one beer lead to another. and one jack/coke lead to another. after 3 beers and 4 jack and cokes, i came home around 2 am. i checked my email and there it was, an email from the contest director saying “come on down at 6:30 am.” eeh? what? hum…. it was 2 am and if i did the swim, i would have to wake up at 5 am? hum… one part of me was saying “no way” while the other part was saying “go for it.” i’ll shall wake up and see.
5 am and my eyes opened wide and all i could think about was the swim race. i grabbed my goggles, trunks, and headed to kailua. i got there at 5:30 am and the event starts at 8 am. too early? yup. actually, i was the first swimmer there….
see that island on the outside? the swim was around the outside of the island, then to the kailua boat ramp, then back to the starting line. it was freaking pretty far. i’d guess about 2.5 kilos? i haven’t swam at kailua before so i was pretty nervous…. by the way, nice sunrise yeah?
so i get my number 90. i felt like a competitor again…
then i get my time chip that doesn’t lie….
i get to the starting line at 8 am, the race starts, i swim out to sea. gosh, it was super windy onshore so it was hard getting out, let alone, hard to even see. i was with the front of the bunch swimming my fastest. then the jack and cokes kicked in. then my goggles started to leak and fog up. then water was stuck in my ears from the head cap. everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. haha.. i started to slow down but as we got to the waves, i picked up pace again. instead of swimming out over the waves, i was swimming through the waves. i passed by a lot of swimmers watching them go over me. then we make the turn, bodysurf? yup. i caught 4 waves and bodysurfed it past a lot of swimmers. i look up and yeah!! i was still with the front part of the group. i could see the front runners in my site. i was happy and ready for the long stretch back to the finish line. then it kicked in. i started to get tired but refused to take a break. my arms felt like rubber and my legs couldn’t kick anymore. i seen people passing by me and i was getting pissed but couldn’t do anything about it. as i got the the beach, everybody was clapping and cheering us on. i got up and the short run to the finish line felt like a marathon. i was beat….
i ended up finishing the race at an official time of 44 minutes and 04 seconds. 30th place overall and 4th place in my age group. the overall winner finished at 35 minutes and 50 seconds and the winner in my age group finished at 41 minutes and 25 seconds. not too bad considering there were ironman triathlon athletes and lifeguards in the event. i was happy even to finish the race. it was much harder than i thought. next race in june on the north shore, i’ll be prepared. i’m not going to drink the night before, i’ll get better goggles, earplugs, and sleep. i can’t wait!!!
anyway, my body and mind feels solid. that swim took a lot out of me but i’m glad i did it. it’s a big accomplishment in my life and i know that it will help my surfing, diving, and lifesaving in the future. thanks mito-chan for giving me some inspiration. see you at the next race….
