Friday swim/ride

Well, another workout with Steve, and another day of rain :) Of course we all know he has nothing to do with it, but there is a curious correlation between working out with Steve and getting rained on....

What started out as me and a few of the EWU Tri Club kids going to Medical Lake to swim Friday afternoon turned into a super-fun workout with the EWU guys and a good group of Tri Fusion-ites. Steve, Tiffany, Sheena, Matt, Jessie, Brian, Cary and Phil all came out to brave the chilly waters, and Ali graciously volunteered to kayak alongside us and take pictures...What a treat!

Ali, our awesome photographer!

The weather looked nasty all afternoon, with the winds consistenly blowing some pretty awesome downpour cells through the area. Just as I was getting to the lake, a nice gully-washer came through, which really got me excited to get out of my car, into my wetsuit, and into the water. Uh, yeah, really excited. Not. Fortunately, the rains stopped just as everyone else arrived, and after many WTF discussions, we all got our wetsuits on and headed for the water.

Brian and Phil...not sure Phil is too sure about this triathlon thing....

Cary, Brian and Phil. Cary looks excited (ignorance is bliss, apparantly). Brian knows what is coming. Phil wishes he hadn't agreed to join these other 2 crazy guys....

2/3 of Team A+...we were missin' Jessi for sure! We are both wondering what the hell we have gotten ourselves into.

Of course there was the requisite 10 minutes of everyone just standing on the beach, looking at the water and silently wondering if we really were going to do this crazy swim.

Never a good sign when you have to strain your eyes to see where we are swimming to....

But actually, once we got in and got going, it wasn't all that bad. And this is coming from the guy who absolutely hates being cold. So if I was a bit cold but doing ok, it was probably like bath water to the rest of the group.

Getting started...no turning back now!

I didn't get to draft off anyone going out, maybe because the cold water deleted the recollection of my swimming ability from the brains of Tiffany, Steve and Brian. Anyway, the 4 of us made it out to the aerator, which we figured was about a half mile out, and decided that heading back in sounded really appealing.

Tiffany is excited about turning around. I am too cold to manage more than a weak smile. Steve did survive, although it looks like he's going under here.....

Hey, anyone wanna race back to the beach?!?

Go!!!

The first few minutes after we turned around, the wind was up a bit, so there was a small chop on the water. It took some getting used to, but it was a good refresher on how to deal with swimming in tougher conditions than a pool. Going back, I tried drafting off of Steve, but it quickly became apparant that I had forgotten all of my open water drafting skills over the winter. Drafting off of Tiffany was also out the window, as she proceeded to kick our asses back to the beach. In fact, by the time I made it back, she had already showered up and was roasting marshmallows over the campfire she had made.

Tiffany says: "Screw you guys. You are too slow. I'm outta here. See you on the beach!"

Shockingly, once we were all back, I decided it would be fun to try some beach starts and show off my awesome "dolphin-ing" abilities. Hmmmm, guy who hates being cold volunteers to go BACK into the cold water? Clearly, the water must have frozen my common sense brain cells. I did one or two really bad beach starts, but it was fun embarassing myself anyway.

Everyone made it back, even Phil. Though I'm still not sure if he's totally sold on this triathlon thing. Maybe if he had a full wetsuit, he might feel differently? :)Next up was a painful walk thru the parking lot, because I think it actually hurts more walking on asphalt with frozen feet than with thawed out feet. Those of us who were crazy enough to bring our bikes then set out for a quick 10 mile loop around Clear Lake.

This is going to be cold...

All I can say is thank goodness we were only going 10 miles, because anything more than that would have been sheer misery. Mercifully, the ride ended just as the next batch of rain came, and Steve and I packed up and hit the road. But, not before Steve came up with the greatest use of a bungee cord I have ever seen. String it across the ceiling in the back of my Honda Pilot, and...voila! Instant clothes line!!! I tell ya, that thing is never coming down!

Notwithstanding the dicey weather, it was a fun workout, and *sigh* "somehow", I don't think I regret doing it :) I am glad I got another open water swim in, and happy that I survived some mid-50 degree water without too much trouble. Thanks to everyone who showed up...there is definitely no way I would have done that workout solo. And a special thanks to Ali for kayaking along with us!!