The boys hung out in the car and I went off to check in while they had breakfast and explored Navy Pier a bit. I got my first view of the course. And then I got REALLY nervous.
{kind of the middle/end of the course. we started on the beach which is further to the left of the photo. The big orange triangular buoy was where we started}
{facing the other way...the orange triangular buoy waaaay out there was our first turn, and remember that this is about halfway through the first leg. The round buoys were for sighting purposes...so look for the big one right above the handrail at the end}
{a good view of part of the second and third leg. The second turn buoy is right in front of the white and black striped building. From there we turned and went along the break wall and into the beach!}
Since it was my first open water swim pretty much ever, I did the 2.5k instead of the full 5k. I really don't think I could have mentally done another loop around. My muscles were done, I think I picked my head up about 5 times on that last leg and groaned that I wasn't there yet. I promised myself that I would leave everything in the water, I wanted to come out not being to feel anything. And I'll be damned if I wasn't even able to form words when Frankie ran up to me.
{my wave getting started. I'm somewhere towards the outside tomato buoy, since I swam around it at the start}
Since it was my first open water swim, I chose to use their volunteer "Angel Swimmers" to help me with the course. I really wanted someone to help me with sighting, and I was lucky enough to have 2 awesome swimmers from Northwestern on either side of me. When I was tossing thru the washing machine that was the lake and gulping water, I can't even tell you how comforting it was to see them every breath I took. Especially since the water was so cloudy I couldn't see past my elbow! When I was tired, they were super encouraging. I'll never forget the first time she told me most of the pack was behind me...it was just what I needed to hear. She'd tell me to kick faster, get past this person or that person or tell me how many people I was catching from the wave before me. It was AWESOME. I really think I would have given in or started a pity party if it wasn't for those girls. And at the end, when I finally was able to stand up and run out of the water? My angel swimmer, Becca, was the first to shout "GO MAGGIE GO!!" and then I heard the craziest screamers, loudest of the bunch at the finish, all screaming for me. Frankie's was the first I heard, a simple "Go Maggie!", my dad and my mom's shouts that I haven't heard since high school swimming. It was amazing and awesome and I would have started laughing if I wasn't so damn tired.
{coming out in my lime green suit! i had my eyes on the chick all the way to the right of the picture...I had to beat her to the finish, lol! Goodness I'm competitive}
Truly, I would not have been able to do this without my amazing support system. My boys, my parents, the texts and messages I got on race day were AMAZING. I love you all.
{my dad decided to make these signs the night before the race, lol. It helped me to be able to see them when I was waiting for my wave to start, even though they couldn't see my lime green self jumping up and down and waving like a loon}
When Frank got to me, my first words were... "towel." then "inhaler" and then "what time is it??" which i kept repeating until he was able to dig out his phone and tell me the time. I knew I did it in my first goal, under an hour. Based on what I could do in the pool, I figured I could do it in around 45 minutes. A mile and a half, 45 minutes. But that was if it was perfect conditions, which it was far from. Imagine my surprise when the results were posted and came in at 46:47. MY GOAL TIME! With the waves and the currents and wind! I was shocked. Even more so when I realized that I got FOURTH IN MY AGE GROUP. fourth. as in 4. as in f-o-u-r-t-h. SHUT UP. 82nd overall, if you don't count the wet suiters (which I don't, sorry).
Oh, I can't wait for next year. I've got a time to beat and you better believe I am going to kick some Lake Michigan ass. This was awesome, and I am so unbelievably happy that I did it.
FOURTH IN MY AGE GROUP, PEOPLE. ha!!!
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