Well, I almost drowned today. In the grand scheme of things, it was something that I should absolutely be able to do, but I was out of practice and just went out WAY too fast. Thankfully, my 2 companions bailed me out. It was certainly a good reminder of my own mortality. I didn't inhale a ton of water, so it wasn't close from that perspective. However, it was certainly questionable if I was out there on my own. I've really got nobody to blame but myself. After working my way to the shore with plenty of help, and calming myself down, I was able to swim back to my starting point with no real difficulty. Just a healthy dose of failure and total annoyance at myself. I'd like to think that my level of exercise and lack of sleep from the last few days has something to do with my fatigue, but I can't really blame that.
Having watched soccer-boy do a triathlon last year, I convinced myself that it was the perfect vehicle for me to overcome my limitations with swimming. While I wasn't always the star athlete, I was always pretty good at everything that I really tried. Swimming was probably the lone exception. I was talked into doing a swim technique clinic last November and that really helped boost my confidence. Hopefully I will wake up tomorrow morning and tonight's experience won't have eradicated it.
People give themselves arbitrary challenges or put themselves in harms way for different reasons. The thrill of danger, fun, or maybe a sense of accomplishment. For me, swimming isn't really supposed to fall into the first one on that list. The triathlon was certainly supposed to be 75% fun and 25% accomplishment. Somewhere in there, there is probably a little bit of the competition aspect, too.
One could argue that hopping into an open water lake for the first time in 4.5 months for someone of my dubious swimming ability was a really bad idea. I'd probably agree with them. The real part is kicking myself for not preparing for this. I had weeks to think about this opportunity! Why did I wait?
All I know is that this experience has seriously pissed me off. When I get pissed off, I don't get mad, I get even. I don't know if it's possible to kick a lake's ass, but the next open swimming day is May 5th. By then, I'm going to be ready. Your ass is mine!
