Why Tri Fusion?

This is why! On Thursday, I sent out a couple of emails to Tim, Steve, and Sheena to see if any of them were interested in an open water swim. With Blue Lake this weekend (gulp!) I knew I needed to get some practice in. We made plans to meet up at Medical Lake at 5:30 on Friday. Perfect plan, right? Well, it was until about 3:30 when I looked out the window and saw how hard the wind was blowing! A storm was definitely brewing. I kept on waiting for a phone call or a text from Steve or Tim saying it was off. No such luck.

I decided to text Tim, just in case he was being a big baby like me. Here's our conversation:

Me: "Um are we still swimming? Are we going to get struck by lightening?"

Tim: "Don't think there is any lightening around, but it's gonna be chilly and windy :) who knows, maybe the water will feel warm! I'm still up for it!"

Me: "OK just making sure. I think I'm just looking for a reason to wuss out!"

Tim: "Don't give me a reason to wuss out, or I will! I need you people to push me to do things I normally wouldn't! That's why I love you people...I think. :) LET'S DO IT!!!"

Me: "Shit! I guess if you are going to be all A+ about it I will have to suck it up!"

After we sent these texts, I was thinking about how Tim's last text is SO true! My dear friends in the club have pushed me so far out of my comfort zone more times than I can count. I have done things I would NEVER have done alone. So, Timmers, thanks for not letting me wuss out! :)

When we got there, it was cold. I jumped out of the car and got my wet suit on in record time (might have had something to do with the temperature).

Me, Tim, and Steve

Then I stood and watched Tim put on his Body Glide. You would think at this point, I might put some on too. I don't think I've ever worn my wet suit without it. Not today though. I think I was a little preoccupied with how cold the water was going to be...I ended up rubbing the back of my neck raw!

We had a couple WTF conversations. How could we not? I love this pic. You have to look closely at our lips. "W...T...F???!!!"

I tested out the water and, as expected, it was chilly.

However, once we got going, it honestly wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be. I decided to draft off of Tim for a while since he knew where we were going to turn around. A few minutes in, though, I moved to the side. I didn't want to have to go into Blue Lake thinking that I needed to find someone to draft. My plan for this swim was to settle into a comfortable rhythm and go with it because that is what I want to do at Blue Lake. I think I did a pretty good job of it. I felt strong and like I was moving at a pretty good pace.

Here we are about ready to turn around...yes!

We hit some waves on the way back. Great. Maybe this wasn't going to be as easy as I thought. I had to laugh at how hard I have worked to keep one eye in the water when breathing in the pool. Why was I spending so much time on that? When I'm in a lake with waves like this, I might as well just roll onto my back to breathe! The waves didn't last for too long, though, and I settled back into a comfortable rhythm.

I think my hair in my swim cap makes me resemble a shark, don't you? Everyone is going to be so scared of me at Blue Lake! ;)
We all made it back in one piece. I was pretty proud of myself. Steve jumped out of the water and started taking off his wet suit. If his bike would have been on the beach, he would have been gone in a flash! Then, Tim gets this crazy idea to practice his dolphin entry (I don't know the technical name for this) into the water. I was sure to give him an "EEEEEE EEEEEEE EEEEEE!" as he went for it!

I had a blast at this swim and I'm so glad to have it under my belt. I feel much better at spotting this year and I can even swim in a pretty straight line! That's a BIG improvement from last year! Thanks to everyone who showed up and didn't let me wuss out!

A special thanks to Ali who kayaked beside us and took some awesome pics!