SWIM MEET
Huge thanks to this cool gal below who helped me thru my first swim meet! I knew nobody. NOBODY. For those of you that know me ( Honey, are you reading??) it is rare or even unheard of that I dont go somewhere and know SOMEONE. Though that was hardly the tough part of the day.


The real challenge was the scallops. Now i cant say FOR SURE that the scallops we ate friday night are to blame. It could have been the asparagus, it could have been the pasta?? likely not. Good wheat pasta doesnt often make one ill. But starting saturday afternoon I started having some GI distress. I will leave it at that. But lets just say saturday night was not spent resting peacefully. Coach Jen wondered if it was nerves. Yes I did think it may have been nerves...10% of it. But when Honey was also admitting some "issues" I was certain it was dietary. Or the 24 hour Flu.
Granted I wasnt SO SICK I couldnt at least show up and see what this swim meet was all about. I did manage some breakfast, oatmeal and a banana, but that was about all my stomach was intersted in. I headed out and went to the U of MN. Great pool. Great aquatic center! I was so happy when Lori got there and she was happy I was there bc she had no money and had called to see if i could spot her some cash-ola to renew her license and to enter the races. Lori was coming from swim meet # 2? #3 ? as she coaches kids and her daughter specifically!

So onto the race ( s)..plural. Remember who coaches me. Jen the Fish.
The game plan was 100-500-50-1650. I knew when 6am came ( and having been up many times) that it was an all or nothing day. I knew I had to do either all the short ones OR the long one. I didnt think i had it in me to do all of them. Plus monday's are my LONG work day. I have Toasted myself too many times on sundays and then monday comes and it makes for a long week. By now Aaron had showed up too.
Aaron is a great kid. More on Aaron later. But remember that Aaron makes me lead the lane. I dont mind as he says " I Cant swim fast in the morning." Ok.
So 100 up..."crap...Goggles on, tight. Head DOWN, Dont look up." all those funny beeps and we are off. I almost win the heat but the dude next to me beats me to the pad. Fun. splits were like 35 and 37 somethin' and i come out with a 1.13. cool. literally. I cool down and then have to wait FOR-EVER for the 500.

It was FREEZING in there. I mean FREEZING. EVERYONE, even those that werent as lean were running around with hats and hats and pants and sweatshirts. At one point i was shivering so much that Lori got the code to sneak into the steam room but we didnt have time before all our events. She was doing all Breast, I was doing all Free. Darn. The air was nice, clean, no chlorine but it was chilly. Aaron, Lori and I were shaking it was so cold.

Next up 500. "Hmm. I think i should have warmed up again, but oh well...I am lucky i only have had to run to the loo once so far." So i line up and go. I imediately am behind in my heat but that is ok. Lori isnt dropping the count cards so i get really confused, "did i get in the wrong lane?" Finally around 7 she starts dropping in the card. Phew. I know i started too slow but i was happy to pick it up and get moving. When i see card 10 I know i am halfway there and i start to think about the pain locker. Too late, maybe in hindsight. My time was fine, Lori said i descended all the 50's after about 200 yards and i finished around 7 minutes. I wanted to go sub 7, but i do know that next time I need to warm up again even if i am shaking I am so cold. As I said. I wasnt cold in the water I was cold on the deck.

Last is the 50. Lori says " You can do sub 35. Go for 30-35. Turn your arms over, and dont breathe. Breathing is for wimps." So that is what i do. I dont breathe and I pump my arms as fast as i can. (Ok i lied, i did breathe too much, but not on the last 12 yards I promise!) I come up breathless with 34.05! Ok barely made it under 35! I am not a sprinter so this is good for me to work on.

Now Aaron, does a 1.03 in the 100 free! And a 30 in the 50 free! Dude you are so leading the lane next time! Granted in his defense he says he has no endurance but i suggested he work on that! HA!

I will certainly go back again and will do the 1650 or the 1000 next time. And I was so happy i dove off the blocks and didnt lose my goggles and they didnt fill with water!!! Last time i did a swim meet was when i was in my teens and I dont think we even wore goggles. So progress my friends, progress. And as i told Aaron, "We showed up! That itself is a huge!"