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Toronto Island Lake Swim - Swim


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TORONTO, ONTARIO
Canada
20C / 68F
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 39m 35s
Overall Rank = 56/59
Age Group = 40-49
Age Group Rank = 8/8
Pre-race routine:

I arrived on the island at the pier by 9:30 and registration was simple enough. Sadly the race didn't start until 11:50am so just relaxed in the shade with hubby and my dog. The course was two 1500m loops and one 800m loop. I opted for my wetsuit as it was still cool enough and I knew I would be in the water a long time.
Event warmup:

Paddled around a bit getting used to the water.
Swim
  • 1h 39m 35s
  • 3800 meters
  • 02m 37s / 100 meters
Comments:

So race time arrives and I put myself at the back of the second heat. The horn goes off and I slowly wade in. My goal is to finish vs. race and so I found a comfortable pace and was really feeling good. At around 750m mark I could feel my wetsuit rubbing the back of my neck. Sucked because hubby SLATHERED my neck with BodyGlide. Fortunately I was distracted by the swells and stopped focusing on that. It was sort of fun rolling around as I made my way to the turn around. The water looked calm from the shore so it was a bit of a surprise.

I rounded the first buoy (750m) and drafted off someone's feet for awhile - probably about 400m but then I accidentally touched her toes twice and felt bad so I swam alongside. We ended up getting in to smooth routine and swam abreast one another until the next buoy (1500m). It was nice swimming alongside someone like that. We got to the turn point and both looked up and started chatting. Neither of us knew if we could just go around the one buoy on the left or if we had to swim to our right, go around another buoy and then cut across. There was no one ahead of us so we went possibly the longer way to avoid disqualification.

At this point... I noticed the swells had grown. My fellow swimmer got the lead and I just tried to stay consistent - swimming my own race. I started to feel really nauseous and mentally worked on keeping it all down while also wondering what would happen if I did throw up. There were two buoys marking 375 & 400m and just passed these the swells were really big and I had to sight more to avoid going off course. But sometimes you couldn't see the buoys for the swells. I rolled on to my back and took some deep breaths but this made it worse as I was incredibly dizzy so back to front crawl. I rounded the buoy (2250m) and again stopped to catch my breath and tread water. My bathing cap was slipping off so I tried to fix that but the only away to avoid the nausea was to keep moving with a front crawl.

Aside from being very nauseous and dizzy - my body felt fine. Arms and shoulders weren't tired. I was kicking and no cramps. I rounded the 3000m buoy and puked. Just a tiny one and then I swam on. So acidic. But then my stomach tightened so I treaded water and waited. A girl on a kayak asked if I wanted to hold on a take a break. I asked if I could without penalty and she said yes. I told her I was sick but that I didn't think I would puke again and wondered if I should just hit the reset and force myself. To my surprise she said "Why not try?" ! Okay but nothing. I decided to keep moving. I actually thought she might try to talk me in to quitting but all she said was "It's a long swim... good luck." And so I kept going.

I reached the next buoy (3400m) - actually swam smack in to it - and started convulsively puking. My stomach just kept contracting. I saw one swimmer rounding the buoy and the look on his face as he watched. I stopped him dead in his path. A guy on a kayak called out and I started doing dog paddle towards him - barfing the whole way. I didn't even eat that much but my stomach was acid. I explained the waves were making me seasick and he just said "ya these swells came out of no where". I rested there and watched about 10 swimmers pass by. At this point it was about finishing vs. placing.

I finally managed to catch my breath and swam for the finish line. Made it and fought to keep it all down as I made my way under the arch. I was so dizzy and unstable. A guy approached me and said something but I couldn't process it. He looked down so I just nodded and he removed my timing chip. Hubby was there and I reached out to keep stable. The guy offered me a chair to sit in and I stayed put for a while. I couldn't talk at all. Mumbled to hubby that I had barfed my way to the finish line - really seasick and he seemed to get it.
What would you do differently?:

Not sight as often
Post race
Warm down:

Eventually made my way up the beach. A guy insisted on taking my photo. NO clue how that turned out ha ha. I changed and had a drink. I was so sick that I didn't say a word during the walk to the ferry, the ferry ride or the drive home. Got home and went up to lie down and napped for a half hour. It wasn't until 7pm that my stomach was settled enough to have something to eat.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Seasickness

Event comments:

Great venue. Friendly helpful volunteers. The size of this race makes it fun (200 for 3 events). There was apparently food and post race activities but I was too sick to check any of it out. Just wanted to get home... quickly!





Last updated: 2015-05-21 12:00 AM
Swimming
01:39:35 | 3800 meters | 02m 37s / 100meters
Age Group: 8/8
Overall: 56/59
Performance: Below average
Suit: LONG SLEEVED
Course: 2x1500m loops, 1x800m loops which were all an out and back in a sense
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 20C / 68F Current: Medium
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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