Open Water, Take Three.

I did another open water swim last night.  Thanks to my awesome sister-in-law for watching my three kiddos, cooking them homemade pizza, and feeding me an amazing post-swim flatbread/gourmet cheese/artichoke hearts/sun-dried tomato creation.  She's such a domestic goddess I just can't even compete.

The swim was...better.  I anticipated where the swamp monster underwater garden was going to be, so I just did the breast stroke through the vegetation.  I guess I wasn't clear in my previous post, but these plants aren't just floating innocently a few feet below me.  They are tangled in my goggle straps, wrapped around my neck, and clinging to my toes.  You have to swim THROUGH them, not over them. 

My husband put it in perspective for me, though.  He described swimming in the ocean (a half a mile out or so) and seeing a giant shadow flicker below him.  He also described how sometimes, in the ocean, the tide shifts a bit and for a moment, you can see ALL THE WAY DOWN to the sand at the bottom.  You get a brief glimpse of how super deep the water is around you.  Yes, that sounds worse than some innocent lake plants.  Note to Self:  Stick to midwestern triathlons.

So now I have to work on my "sighting".  This is how you steer in open water swims.  Although my anxiety level was lower, my swim still felt super slow.  Mostly because every time I looked up, I found I was angled too far to the right.  I would then have to swim a few extra strokes to the left, and then check myself again to make sure I was on the correct path.  It was a total waste of energy and time.  I had no idea I had such terrible aim.  Near the end, I realized if I just swam to the left on purpose, I was actually going fairly straight.  I still felt inefficient like this, but I guess I'm learning?