Ooooopen Water

I swam in the lake today! The sprint triathlon is nauseatingly close (--single digits close), and I haven't swam in open water since last August. I wouldn't have gone if it hadn't been for my coworker who is also doing the race this weekend. This will be her first triathlon, and she wanted to get in the open water at least once, but not by herself (smart). So I said I'd go, too. We were planning on going yesterday afternoon, but there were tornado warnings and while I could almost stomach being 'that moron' who is in arctic waters this early in the season, I definitely couldn't be the moron who swims during lightening storms. Gotta draw the line somewhere. But, of course, the weather turned out to be perfect and we totally could have gone. Boo weather.com.
I woke up this morning and checked the weather. It would be chilly in the low 60's but there was the little graphic of the sun and most importantly 0-1% chance of precipitation, depending on the hour. Since the weather wasn't going to bail me out this time I started getting ready. The panic attack at my spandex last summer PALES in comparison to the attack I had as I wiggled, jumped, stretched, and squatted into my spandex this morning. I don't want to talk about it. As I opened the door to leave, I was greeted by nothing less than PRECIPITATION! Strike 2. It wasn't pouring buckets, but was a heavy mist that made the streets wet, so for all means and purposes it was raining (my time away from Oregon has made me quite the pansy when it comes to rain). My coworker was patiently waiting, though, so I grumbled and sat on my wet bike seat and we left.
The bike ride was much longer than I remember. Which just reminds me how PAINFULLY out of shape I am.
We arrived and not shockingly were the only two crazy people there. People passed on the lake front trail just kind of staring, undoubtedly thinking Who are those clowns?! How crazy do you have to be to swim TODAY?! Whatever. We donned our wet suits... a whole new rendition of hopping around, tugging, pulling, squatting, grunting, and praying that it would still fit. Once all suctioned up we feebly locked our bags to our bikes, hoping that people are inherently good and wouldn't just take scissors to our bags and take off with the contents.
As we inched towards the water my anxiety grew, shocking I know. I remembered my past open water experiences and cringed. Would my wet suit choke me again? Would I swim across the lake on accident? What if I DIE OF HYPOTHERMIA?? We put our toes in and started shrieking-- it was SO COLD. Painfully cold. No way. I was NOT going to make the news for being the tool that swims in hypothermic waters and dies in the middle of the lake. Had my coworker not been there, too, I would have went home and chalked it up to a good bike ride if nothing else. But she was there. That kind of accountability can really be a bear. So we waded in waist deep and just kind of stood there. As my teeth started chattering, I resolved to just doing it and getting it over with. It was SO DARN COLD. It took my breath away. My wetsuit WAS choking me! I was forgetting to exhale while my NUMB face was in the water! I was swallowing air and starting to feel nauseous! PANIC. I stood up and belched. I got pissed off. No way did I wake up early to bike down there IN THE RAIN, get IN the water just to suck at it and look foolish. After a brief but necessary 'pull yourself together' pep talk, I got back to it and it got better. My ears hurt REALLY BAD because it was so cold. I've had some shoulder issues for the past couple of months which wasn't a treat, but I hope when I get disciplined about lifting again it will go away. We made it to the buoy and then went back. Just a half mile. A feeble one at that, but we did it, and now (after a long hot and sanitizing shower) I am glad we did. And I am glad there were no major issues involving lifeguards to report.
The race this weekend is going to be uber humbling.

I'm really considering signing up with Team in Training again for the Chicago Triathlon. Apparently I'm not as self motivated as I thought I was, as evidenced by my lack of preparedness for this week's race. Part of the fun of doing the race is the preparation and if I can't get my act together enough to prepare then it will be super miserable to be out of shape for an OLYMPIC distance race! My hesitation is solely in the fundraising. While LLS is a fantastic organization that I'll enthusiastically support, I really can't afford to make up any difference if I don't meet the fundraising minimum. I'm torn. I HAVE to figure out something for training for Chicago though, because my current plan has failed miserably.

The Iron Horse has been stolen! It is okay, I kind of wanted it to happen. Since I got my Craig's List Junker (which I am more and more dissatisfied with each time I ride it... almost makes me want IH back!), I hadn't been riding IH. There was no room in our basement for it so I left it in the backyard... not locked up. It took awhile, but someone finally snatched her. While it wasn't my intention to draw crime to my place of living, I was too lazy to take it to a co-op on the south side to be restored and sold. She served me well. I'd wanted to get the tires off before it was gone, but didn't. Darn.

That's it for now. I have reflections on my lack of motivation but will save them for another time as this post is painfully long already.